Jamieson Woods, Jane Ong, Maria Mourilyan, Nicholas Abussi, Adam Flory, and Douglas McKenzie recognised at Australian Bravery Decorations

Two paramedics have spoken of the day they attempted to save Senior Constable Brett Forte’s life under live gunfire. Despite their bravery, their actions came at a cost.

Former paramedics Jamie Woods and Jane Ong have been recognised alongside four other colleagues for their brave conduct in coming to the aid of Brett Forte, who was gunned down in the Lockyer Valley in 2017.

In his 30-year career, there was only one time when paramedic Jamie Woods thought he wouldn’t make it home to his children.

The veteran paramedic had been tasked to what he initially thought was a regular job.

“We didn’t know a lot of the details as to what we were attending and in fact, it was mentioned it was an exercise,” he said.

Mr Woods and his fellow colleagues were greeted with a frantic scene filled with lights, sirens, radio calls and a “barrage of police cars heading towards us and coming past us”.

They would soon discover a member of Toowoomba’s Tactical Crime Squad had been critically shot by a paranoid gunman.

Mr Woods arrived at the scene with fellow paramedics Jane Ong and Maria Mourilyan, who had adorned high-visibility vests in anticipation of a traffic crash.

They were instead met with armed police and automatic gunfire ringing through the Lockyer Valley bushland.

Ms Ong said she and her colleagues felt like “sitting ducks”.

Jane Ong was an Advanced Care Paramedic with QAS when she was called to help police officer Brett Forte who was shot. Her actions that day have earned her a bravery award. Picture: Steve Pohlner

“We were told to immediately evacuate, I opened up my driver’s side door and pretty much fell out,” Ms Ong said.

Ms Ong then crawled towards the critically-wounded Senior Constable Brett Forte who, along with his police partner Senior Constable Cath Nielsen, had been lured to the Lockyer Valley property by wanted criminal Ricky Maddison on May 29, 2017.

Maddison opened fire on their police vehicle, wounding Senior Constable Forte.

While still under fire, Senior Constable Nielsen smashed the vehicle’s windscreen and pulled her partner from the car.

Maddison would be shot dead by Special Emergency Response Team officers hours later.

As a police officer administered CPR on Senior Constable Forte, Ms Ong crawled back to the ambulance to retrieve her equipment.

A female police officer screamed at her to “get down”.

“I said to her ‘just cover me, please, just cover me,” she said.

As discreetly as possible, Ms Ong gathered as much equipment as she could, pushed it through the ambulance window and dragged it back to administer emergency care to Senior Constable Forte.

The late Senior Constable Brett Forte, a member of Toowoomba’s Tactical Crime Squad was critically shot by a paranoid gunman on May 29, 2017 .

“All I felt was this sense of urgency as if it was a matter of time before a bullet may penetrate the ambulance and I’d get shot,” she said.

Mr Woods was also forced to return to his vehicle under immense danger, to retrieve a defibrillator and medicine bag.

Mr Woods would later direct the ambulance to reverse and allow paramedics to load Senior Constable Forte onto a stretcher.

They then drove from the scene to an awaiting helicopter, where a doctor tragically declared the 42-year-old senior officer dead.

More than seven years later, six brave ambulance heroes have been recognised for their valiant attempts to save Senior Constable Forte’s life.

In addition to Mr Woods, Ms Ong and Ms Mourilyan, Nicholas Abussi, Adam Flory, and Douglas McKenzie were also recognised for their conduct as part of this year’s Australian Bravery Decorations.

Paramedics Doug McKenzie, Adam Flory, Maria Mourilyan, Nick Abussi, are getting bravery awards for treating police officer Brett Forte. Picture: Steve Pohlner

But brave isn’t the word Mr Woods would use to describe his actions.

“I’m proud of the role that I had that day that and extremely honoured to get the commendation,” he said.

“My primary thought in that instant was ensuring the safety of the crews of paramedics who were responding.”

The dramatic situation was also the beginning of the end of his 30-year career.

“In October 2018 I basically started to break in more ways than one and went off work,” he said.

The past seven years has been a journey through the “hurdles” of getting help, bureaucracy “hell”, going in and out of hospitals, sharing wards with military personnel and working with a psychiatrist to cope with post traumatic stress disorder.

“Seeing what most people would never see in your life, eventually has a profound effect on you,” he said.

“I just don’t think we (QAS) were prepared for that operationally and you would be hard to convince me that we (QAS) are today.”

The 49-year-old now runs a small cafe with his fiance.

Jamie Woods has been awarded a bravery commendation for his actions as a paramedic who helped wounded police officer Brett Forte. Picture: Nigel Hallett

Despite the scars from his career, his son still wants to follow in his dad’s footsteps.

“My 17-year-old son wants to be a paramedic even though he’s seen the toll it takes on me,” he said.

“I would never talk him out of it. In fact, I miss it every day.”

Ms Ong now works as a health and safety officer for Urban Utilities in Brisbane.

Following her harrowing experience, she encouraged other paramedics to seek help when they needed it, and prioritise safety.

“I think a lot of young paramedics forget about that,” she said.

This year, 46 people were recognised in the Australian Bravery Decorations, a biannual list from the Governor-General’s office which seeks to honour Australians who have put themselves in danger to protect the lives or property of others.

Originally published as Jamieson Woods, Jane Ong, Maria Mourilyan, Nicholas Abussi, Adam Flory, and Douglas McKenzie recognised at Australian Bravery Decorations