Thirty years on, female Macedon Ranges paramedics tell their tale

IT’S only been 30 years since women could sign on as paramedics. Two Macedon Ranges residents open up about their early days in the role.

Paramedics Olga Bartasek and Dee McDonellat the Gisborne ambulance station. Picture: Luis Enrique Ascui

FEMALE paramedics living and working in Sunbury and the Macedon Ranges have had an opportunity to reflect on the progress of women in their profession.

While the Victorian Police force has recently celebrated 100 years of female participation, remarkably it is just 30 years since women were allowed to become paramedics in Victoria.

Gisborne-based MICA paramedic Dee McDonell and Sunbury-based paramedic Olga Bartasek, both from Riddells Creek, came through the same group of trainees 25 years ago, among the first few dozen female paramedics to get qualified.

Ms McDonell told the Leader it was only when a state law which stipulated women could not lift more than 14kg as part of work duties was removed in 1987 that the opportunity for women to pursue careers as paramedics was opened up.

“When we first joined up there would be men who’d try to test you out physically and there was one man in particular who tried to scare me out,” she said.

Similarly, Ms Bartasek remembers incredulous looks unloading a patient at the Austin Hospital as part of an all-women two-person crew.

“It was like we had gone back 20 years overnight — there were members of the public saying ‘are you allowed to work together’ and even from a pair of paramedics behind us who hadn’t seen it before,” she said.

In the late 1980s, joining the-then Metropolitan Ambulance Service involved three years of on-the-job training and an Associate Diploma in Health.

The system allowed for tight friendships to form.

“You’d learn on the job and consolidate and exchange notes with your fellow students, it was invaluable,” Ms Bartasek said.

“These days the newcomers support each other on Facebook groups and like what we were doing — part of that is checking in with people to see how they’re going,” she said.

Ms McDonell said the introduction of women had impacted positively on the organisation.

“Ideally your crew should be one male and one female as there is the paternal and maternal care there,” he said.

“If we are called to a brawl at a pub, I’ll go in first and can often help calm the situation.”

Both women have husbands also working as paramedics.

“Having good support around you is a must with this job, and in our case we have partners who know how to open up,” Ms McDonell said.

Both women as well as Woodend resident and Kyneton-based paramedic Jan Einsidel, also in the job for 25 years, took part in a gala dinner and celebrations organised by Ambulance Victoria for the 30-year milestone.