Long-serving Ambulance Community Officer Retires
July 1, 2024in Community News
After 23 years serving the Balmoral community, Ambulance Community Officer (ACO) Karen Clarke has completed her final shift for Ambulance Victoria (AV).
ACOs are First Responders employed by AV on a casual basis to work on-call in rural and remote communities and volunteer much of their time to maintaining their skills.
They are trained to provide advanced first aid and are often the first on scene, before Advanced Life Support (ALS) ambulance backup arrives.
Balmoral Ambulance Community Officer Karen Clarke has retired after 23 years with Ambulance Victoria.
Karen first joined the Balmoral team in August 2000 to learn new skills and contribute to her local community.
She said highlights included seeing advancements in equipment and medications over the years and getting to know new ACO team members.
Paramedic Community Support Coordinator Jim Falla said Karen had made a significant contribution to the Balmoral community.
“Learning from every case and looking after every patient with kindness and respect has been the hallmark of Karen’s clinical practice,” Mr Falla said.
“We thank her for her hard work and providing the best possible care during her ambulance career.”
Karen Clarke has been an Ambulance Community Officer since 2000.
Karen said there had been many memorable moments over her AV career, with a number of standout cases.
“One that’s really stayed with me took place at the Rocklands Reservoir,” Ms Clarke said.
“The only location we had was “somewhere by the water” and it resulted in a big collaborative response between our crews and local police until 2am in the morning.”
Mr Falla said Karen would be missed by her colleagues at the Balmoral ACO Branch and Balmoral Bush Nursing Centre.
“They would like to thank Karen for her many years of service and dedication to AV and the community, and wish her the very best in the adventures that lie ahead,” Mr Falla said.
Karen described her time with AV as fantastic, and said she was looking forward to travelling with her partner and having more time for gardening and farm jobs.