Our Unique Rescue Role                                                                                                               Home

Ambulance Rescue has an important role to play in rescue. It is easy to say that anybody with the correct training and equipment can conduct a rescue. That is true, up to a certain point.  But many people find themselves requiring rescue, not because they could not normally get out of where they are, but because they have become sick or injured.  This is where the Ambulance Rescue service excels above the other services available - rescue may bring the patient to medical care, but Ambulance Rescue brings medical care to the patient.

Imagine you are abseiling down a cliff, your equipment fails and you fall, sustaining life threatening injuries.  Who do you want coming down that cliff to rescue you?  The Rescue Firefighter with his first aid kit and senior first aid certificate - NO! A Rescue Paramedic with a minimum of 4 years on-road paramedic experience, advanced medical equipment, pain relief drugs and a degree in paramedical science - YES!

You're trapped in an overturned train, with multiple broken bones causing you extreme agony each time you move, you have internal bleeding which may prove fatal if not treated in a timely manner, and you quite possibly have spinal injuries. Only one type of person is the one you want coming through all that twisted metal looking for you - the RESCUE PARAMEDIC with pain relief drugs, intravenous fluid replacement, fracture and spinal immobilisation and the necessary skills and compassion to get you out to safety.

These are just two of the scenarios that members of the NSW public find themselves in, where only Ambulance Rescue Officers can provide the care that is needed.

 
As just explained, Rescue is not just about cutting up a vehicle, it is about the care of the patient who needs our help. Everybody agrees that the core role of the Ambulance Service is the pre-hospital care of the sick and injured.  By the very nature of rescue incidents, you are sometimes required to spend long periods of time with these people.  How can pre-hospital medical care be provided by the other rescue services to the level provided by the Ambulance? The answer is simple- THEY CAN'T.

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