ST JOHN NT
NEWSROOM

Paramedic Amanda Recently celebrated her 15 years with St John NT – but she wasn’t always on road.

Amanda grew up in Darwin but moved around a bit as a kid and ended up away from the Territory. However by the year 2000, the call of the tropics was too strong, and Amanda moved back to the Top End.

After a couple of weeks working at a gas company, Amanda got a job in Administration at St John NT. For four and a half years, her roles included organising transport, debt collection and helping with general financial tasks.

Hit with a case of the itchy feet, Amanda decided to look for something different.

A small stint as a personal assistant at the Jape Homemaker Centre, then 12 months at a debt collection company, Amanda finally found herself back at St John NT, but this time as a trainee paramedic on road.

For Amanda, it seemed like a natural progression, but it’s not that common! Why did she make the switch?

“I had never thought of being a paramedic until I worked for St John. The people on road, they were just my type of people! We just clicked, so I thought I would start volunteering and get involved in some of the events.

“I really enjoyed it! I went to heaps of events and it made me think ‘hey, I could do this if I tried’. I thought that I had learned as much as I could in my current role and I wanted to try something different…so I did!”

It could have been jarring to come back into your old workplace in a completely different capacity, but not for Amanda.

“It was easy! I found it easy because I knew everyone, it wasn’t like starting a completely new job. I knew what to expect because I’d been around it for years.”

I asked Amanda if she’s ever looked back.

We’re talking from the rostering office where Amanda is filling in for a bit, so I wonder if she’s got itchy feet again.

“I’ve always put my hand up for other things. I’m comms trained – I hurt my ankle once, so I was able to work, but not on road, so I did some work in our Emergency Communication Centre taking Triple Zero (000) calls.

“I’ve been a supervisor in Comms, I’ve helped with Stores, I’ve done rostering, Day Duty Manager and right now I’m a Duty Manager for the folks on road. Some people are fine always doing the same role, but that’s not me. I like to keep learning new things.”

Sooo…the itchy feet?

“I’m happy where I am now. The times we’re living in are so unknown I’m happy just sitting tight for now!”

It’s all about living in the moment and waiting to see what happens.

“As well as the people I work with, I like the fact that you don’t know what kind of day you’re going to have. The unpredictability, the variety – there’s always a silver lining somewhere.”

What’s Amanda’s song of the week?

“I like to listen to anything on the radio. All I Know So Far by P!nk is catchy.”