‘They are angels’: Lisa Wilkinson’s praise for paramedics and frontline workers

TV host Lisa Wilkinson has revealed the moment she was “scared” and why she had to put her “brave face on”.

Lisa Wilkinson has only been in an ambulance once. It was when her beloved mother Beryl was taken to hospital just before she died.

“I had that moment of face-to-face with the paramedics,” Wilkinson says. “They really are angels and they showed that with their care of mum.

“Mum was really scared and I was lot more scared but I knew I had to put a brave face on to hopefully make mum feel more comforted. But (my brave face) was nothing compared to the paramedics. They are extraordinary. It’s like they are looking after their own mum.”

It’s a joy for The Project host to narrate Ambulance Australia, which gives viewers an unfiltered look into the life as a paramedic for Queensland Ambulance Service (QAS).

“This is reality-TV in its most impactful form and it shows a side of life that few of us get to see up close,” Wilkinson says.

“It’s raw and unscripted. It’s honest and often it’s heartbreaking and heart-stopping work that paramedics do.

“They attend everything from horrific car crashes to helping the elderly in the last stages of their life to birthing babies in the first stages of their lives.

“And they are ready and willing to handle and help with almost anything.”

Lisa Wilkinson narrates Ambulance Australia.

Since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, mental health calls to the QAS have increased by 15 per cent, and you can see the effects on the professionals in this week’s episode of the new season as a man claims to have jumped off Brisbane’s Story Bridge. We watch first-hand as the professionals are racing to piece together a puzzle to try and save a life.

“Mental health issues have been exacerbated over the last few years and yet our paramedics never falter,” Wilkinson says.

“There’s a reason why we put cameras on this situation because they show the best of what we can be as human beings and the extraordinary trust that we have in these people is so well placed.”

It’s well-known Wilkinson has had a passion for writing and journalism from a young age. But did she ever entertain thoughts of the medical profession?

“No, no. My best friend became a nurse and she headed up one of the biggest emergency departments in Sydney,” she says. “I am in awe of her and her profession.

“We all have to know our limits.

Paramedics Shane and Shelly from Season 4 of Ambulance Australia.

“But we can all watch a series like Ambulance Australia and know there are much better people than us who do much better work.

“And you get to see the expertise and the toll it takes on them and their families.

“If the pandemic has taught us anything, my hope is that when we come out of this – and I remain hopeful we will come out of this at some point – if we’ve learnt nothing else, I hope that we’ve learnt that our frontline workers deserve our respect and admiration.

“When you look at the aged-care crisis and the appalling wages they are paid, we’ve got to start making them understand the work they do is incredibly important and yet they are paid less than people who work part-time at KFC. How have we ended up in a world where that is OK?”

Ambulance Australia, 7.30pm, Wednesday, Channel 10.