Young paramedic Jess Read remembers the Bourke St tragedy

BOURKE St paramedic Jess Read was only supposed to be an observer. But by 5pm on 20 January, the young paramedic had seen more than most do in an entire career.

PARAMEDIC Jess Read was only supposed to be an observer.

The 24-year-old was on her last day of a three-week induction before she was set to start as a graduate paramedic the following Monday.

But by 5pm that afternoon, she had seen more than most do in an entire career.

“We were just expecting one patient when the dispatch came through,” she told the Herald Sun.

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Paramedic Jess Read was at the scene of the Bourke St carnage. Picture: David Caird

But on arrival at Bourke St, she was confronted with almost a dozen broken bodies scattered along the footpath. The memory of that moment has stayed with her since, she said.

“There was so much noise and chaos,” she said.

“Members of the public — people who had probably never seen blood or broken bones before were just doing whatever they could to help,” she said.

Ms Read said it was “instinct”, as well as the guidance of crew on the scene that allowed her to function.

“It was just one patient at a time, I didn’t really think of it as the whole picture,” she said.

Paramedics were shocked by the incident. Picture: Alex Coppel

The confronting scene for first responders on Bourke St. Picture: Alex Coppel

The young paramedic quickly worked to treat the injured, moving between patients left lying across the city street.

It wasn’t until hours later that the events of the afternoon began to sink in.

On the drive home in the truck with her two colleagues, there was a lot of silence, Ms Read said.

“We all digested it in our own way.”

Despite the trauma of the event, Ms Read was determined to go back to work immediately.

“Monday was a new day and there were more people to help,” she said.

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“I wanted to go back to work to talk about it with people, to debrief, to move on,” she said.

Almost a year on, Ms Read still goes over the day in her head.

“It was always in the back of my mind … I’ll never forget it,” she said.

“Even now when jobs come up in that area, on Bourke St, it’s a bit eerie.”

But she said the support from her colleagues who were by her side on the day and in the weeks and months to come has helped her carry on.

Ms Read said the feeling of being able to help people during a time of such pain trauma made her proud of the work she and her colleagues do.

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