ONE of the NSW’s longestserving paramedics, Jeff Woods ASM, has immersed himself in all aspects of NSW Ambulance, from roles in state rescue and intensive care to flying in the State’s first aeromedical helicopter.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
After 38 years of distinguished service, Superintendent Woods retired from his Goulburn-based position as NSW Ambulance Zone Manager in Southern Sector last Friday.
Supt Woods, 60, joined the service in 1975 as an honorary (volunteer) ambulance officer and was the last paramedic appointed to a permanent position under the old NSW Ambulance Transport Board.
The board was formed in 1919 and replaced by the NSW Ambulance Service in 1976, beginning the modern era of NSW Ambulance.
Born at Bega and raised in the Shoalhaven, Supt Woods recalled his first days with the service, back when officers and the community fundraised for most of their equipment.
“When I started I got a pair of second-hand trousers, secondhand uniform and second-hand hat,” he said.
“My parents were on the old Shoalhaven District Ambulance organising committee, which helped fundraise for the region’s first dedicated rescue unit in the 1970s.”
Supt Woods was among the first to fly the State’s first ambulance medical rescue helicopter - based in the Illawarra - in the 1970s, and qualified as an intensive care paramedic in 1979, a role which saw him called out to some of the region’s most traumatic cases.
“I was just a brand new ICP when we had major smash in the northern suburbs of Wollongong in 1980 involving five teenagers – we lost three with horrific burns,” he said.
He relocated to Sydney in 1986 then Dubbo in 1989, after which he received three promotions in six months, from station officer to co-ordination centre officer to paramedic educator based at Royal North Shore Hospital.
Positions have included operations manager in the Northern Rivers Sector in 2002 and State Rescue Manager in 2003.
He has also trained in counter- terrorism and disaster medicine co-ordination.
Supt Woods has been based in Goulburn since 2006, leading a major command which includes the NSW coastal strip and southern snowfields.
In 2009, he was awarded the prestigious Ambulance Service Medal (ASM) for service to NSW Ambulance.
Major incidents attended have included the Linden (Blue Mountains) bus crash which left more than 40 children in hospital after a collision between two school buses in 2010, the Sydney bushfires in the late 1990s to early 2000s, and two weeks in Canberra during the bushfires of 2003.
Supt Woods, a father of four, said many call-outs had proved heart-wrenching, particularly those which involved children.
But there were just as many incidents which had reaffirmed his passion and commitment for the job.
“I’ve lost count of the number of people I’ve actually resuscitated from cardiac arrest,” he said.
“One of these jobs was with a paramedic the late Dave McGee, at Broughton Vale north of Berry.
“We had a young man crashed into the side of a car after he lost control on his motorbike.
He had smashed both his upper legs while impact with the roof of the car damaged his heart muscle.
“We resuscitated him from the point of being almost deceased to where we could talk to him at Wollongong Hospital.
“He made a full recovery and that Christmas he sent us a card, thanking us. It was really, really good.”
Significantly, following this incident ICPs were given the authority to carry out decompressions and chest drains, procedures that previously could not be performed without a doctor’s authority.
Supt Woods said that, operationally, the two greatest innovations had been introduction of two-person crews in 1980 and the commencement of a 24-hour service.
Clinically, he said the introduction of intensive care paramedics in 1976 was ground-breaking.
“This had enormous impact – until that point, we were all first aid trained. The introduction of ICPs represented a major expansion of our skills in pre-hospital care and the ability to assist patients in life-threatening situations,” he said.
Supt Woods said that Goulburn was a growing community and the service had grown in the process.
“There are challenges in the work - the climate, the distance involved to get to some of the jobs, the workload – you’ve got the major arterial roads going through.
“But overall, it’s a great community which offers a great lifestyle.”
In his retirement, Supt Woods will turn a hobby into a going concern, working for Motorsport Safety and Rescue, an organisation that provides safety services to the Australian rallying industry.