Station manager awarded medal

Running a regional ambulance sub centre is not easy, just ask St John Ambulance station manager Gary Davies.

He is acutely aware calls to attend medical emergencies require precision from everyone involved from start to finish.

This includes striking a balance between full-time staff and ordinary people giving up their time to help a good cause and attend call-outs.

Mr Davies played a key role in transforming the regional service into a hybrid between career paramedics and volunteers.

He was also a prime mover in identifying land and starting concept planning for the Broome sub centre, which opened in 2013.

Those efforts were recognised on Australia Day when Mr Davies was awarded the Ambulance Service Medal.

"Our model is a combination between paramedics and volunteers, which has worked very well," he said.

"It really is a testament to the team of paramedics and the community of volunteers.

"They are like a family, always looking out for each other."

Mr Davies said he was humbled and honoured to receive the award.

He joined St John as a student ambulance officer in 1995 and then as a paramedic in 1998, before working as a metropolitan paramedic and on-road tutor for the next four years.

He was appointed ambulance paramedic in Broome in 2002.

That signalled a new chapter for St John as it introduced career paramedics into what was until then a volunteer-run sub centre.

In 2009, Mr Davies was promoted to station manager at Broome.

He said the ambulance service in Broome was "by the community, for the community".

"We are all the same when we go out on the road," Mr Davies said.

"We are a team and that has probably been the single biggest factor behind our success we all work together."