It has been 40 years since women first joined the NSW Ambulance Service and now in 2019 it is commonplace to see women in the force.
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Lithgow station officer Kate Moore, paramedic Kelly Brackenrig and paramedic supervisor Meah Ferguson make up part of the crew at Lithgow Ambulance Station.
We had the opportunity to sit down with the three women to get an insight into their working life.
Kate Moore joined the service in 2003 after coming back from living overseas and just wanted a change and a challenge.
"When I got posted, my permanent posting was to Forbes, I was there for three and a half years and then I applied and won a position at Lithgow, so I came here in 2007 and have been here ever since," she said.
Having been in the job for just over 16 years Ms Moore said, like every job, there are ups and downs, good and bad, but ultimately she loves it.
Ms Moore said she chose to come to Lithgow because it was conveniently close to Sydney, and that it was also a good location in which to settle down with her family.
"But work wise, the consistency of the work and the type of work we get is good, it's a good station where you get to utilise all your skills and have a consistent amount of work," she said.
"Naturally, because we are on the highway and we have Bells Line of Road, there is a reasonable amount of high level work."
Ms Moore said one of the challenges was the shift work.
"We each work 12 hour shifts but sometimes they can be 15,16,17 hour shifts," she said.
Every morning they conduct station duties, checking the cars are ready for the road and then they wait to see what the phone brings.
"We can be really busy and out straight away or we can be lucky and sit and have a cup of tea," she said.
"So every day is different, it is literally what happens when the phone rings."
Ms Moore said she liked the variety the job brings.
"It's a bit corny and cliche but I do like helping people, but you get to meet some really amazing people and here their stories," she said.
"If I can make someone's day a bit better then that's nice and I enjoy the challenge, every day is different and you never know what's coming, so it keeps you on your toes."
Paramedic Kelly Brackenrig studied a Bachelor of Health Science Paramedicine at Charles Sturt University in 2000 before probation in Sydney, working at Carinbah, Kempsey and Randwick before heading out west to Nyngan and eventually Lithgow.
"I was born and bred in Lithgow and it's where my family come from so it was a natural choice to come here," she said.
Ms Brackenrig said the job became harder once she had children of her own.
"Especially when you start doing jobs with children involved, so that hits pretty close to home," she said.
"You are seeing people at their worst all the time. People don't ring you if they are having a good day."
She said missing important days such as Christmas, Easter and birthdays or family time was one of the biggest challenges.
Lithgow Station hosts 24 staff, a minimum of four during the day and two at night, as well as one being on call from home.
"We have good mix of staff, with the male to female ratio pretty even, we also have a good skill mix, with trainees and advanced paramedics who work well together," she said.
Ms Brackenrig said it felt corny to say but helping people and trying to improve someone's day was her favourite part of being a paramedic.
"If I can make them feel a little bit better that's pretty much it, if I can get them to hospital in better condition then when we get to them that's the goal," she said.
Ms Brackenrig is currently back at university studying nursing, so that eventually she can get into that field.
Paramedic Meah Ferguson joined the ambulance service after working as a police officer for five years. She has now been in the job for 16 years and plans on sticking around for the rest of her working career.
"I saw it as a bigger avenue to help people rather then the police service, so I applied through ambulance and trained through them as well," she said.
"I see the ambulance as a dynamic environment where it is forever changing and that's what I enjoy about it."
Ms Ferguson has been at the Lithgow station for the last eight years, with majority of her time spent as supervisor.
Ms Ferguson said the main thing that satisfied her in the job was being able to support her colleagues because not every job was rosy.
"If I can offer patients some kind of compassion or will to continue fighting then that's the only thing that satisfies me still," she said.
She said she liked "being able to be an advocate for people when they can't be one for themselves", she said.
The crew have to continue studying due to medicine continually changing and upgrading.
"If you want to do the job properly you have to spend a bit of your downtime studying," she said.
"Last year we became registered paramedics so that was a big stepping stone for Ambulance NSW."
Ms Ferguson said it was a privilege to be people's advocates and get them the care they needed.
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