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As a little girl attending preschool and then primary school in Leigh, Michelle Maclean was only too aware of the job that emergency services did in the community.
“We had the fire station next door and the Auckland Westpac Rescue Helicopter landing on our playing field,” she says. “I used to press my nose up to the wire fence and think how exciting it all was. I used to think, “yeah, that’s what I want to do”.”
By 16, Michelle had joined the Leigh Volunteer Fire Service where, at the time, her step-father Steve Paddison was the fire chief.
Doing first response in the fire service only whetted her appetite to learn more.
“I knew that if I wanted to really help people, then I had to do some medical training. Even back then, I knew my ultimate goal was to join the rescue helicopter service.”
After finishing school at Mahurangi College, Michelle did a three year paramedic degree at AUT. During this time, she was given the opportunity to do a two week placement in Cape Town, South Africa. After finishing her course, she took up an invitation to return to Cape Town and did a further two months there.
She then spent three years as a medic in the NZ Air Force followed by a year with the Hamilton-based Waikato rescue chopper service where she had the dual role of paramedic and crewman. One of the skills she learned in this position was how to operate the winch.
“Most of our patient recoveries using the winch in the Waikato were over land,” Michelle says. “These were often people who were lost in the bush and had set off a beacon and perhaps they were injured and couldn’t walk out.
“Normally we’d winch a medic in to make an assessment and then winch the patient and the medic out again.”
Since moving to Auckland, where she became the Auckland Westpac Rescue Helicopter’s first female air crew officer, she has found herself involved in a lot more water rescues – winching people out of the water, off boats and jet skis.
The Auckland helicopter crews are based at Ardmore and work 12-hour shifts, on a four day on/four day off roster. This gives Michelle ample time for the many interests she has outside of work including hockey, snowboarding, playing guitar, riding motorbikes, fishing, spending time with friends and family, being at the beach and getting out into nature.
“What I love about my job is being able to help people on what is possibly the worse day of their life.
Often, the specialist care that we provide so they can make it to hospital is the difference between life and death.
“I also love the opportunity to work with paid staff and volunteers across all the emergency services from St John and coastguard to the fire service, police, Land Search & Rescue, and the Department of Conservation.
“Long term, I just want to keep learning and honing my skills. I also think it’s important for rescue organisations to build networks and relationships nationally and internationally so we can share and improve our rescue effectiveness.”
Michelle adds that responding to a call in the Leigh area is always a little bittersweet.
“I still know a lot of people in Leigh and no-one wants to respond to an emergency for someone they know. But on the other hand, I am glad we are able to get to Auckland’s more remote communities faster, which gives the patient the best chance of getting the care they need.”
