The Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) hosted teams of paramedics instead of athletes last month when it was home for a NSW Ambulance training exercise.
NSW Ambulance Inspector Andrew Mayer said paramedics who wanted to become part of NSW Ambulance’s Special Operations Team (SOT) had been tasked with the challenge of abseiling down the SCG’s 70-metre-high floodlights.
“The gruelling day-long task was a simulation of the type of scenario the SOT hopefuls will likely be faced with in real life,” Inspector Mayer said.
“The challenge was both crucial and essential in determining how the trainees handle themselves in high-pressure circumstances,” he said.
“They found it quite daunting.”
Inspector Mayer said a lot of the SOT’s jobs were conducted at a significant height and the training exercise ensured the paramedics would be able to cope with the increased pressure.
“They could, for instance, go to The Gap (in Sydney’s eastern suburbs) for a rescue, and if they get a knot wrong or they don’t reeve a rope through the descending device correctly there could be catastrophic consequences for that SOT operator,” he said.
“So if they can’t show us the way to do it after they’ve been taught in an assessment, then obviously we can’t allow them to continue [with the course].”
Inspector Myer said that in order to be considered for the course, paramedics required four years’ experience as a P1 (priority one) and must undergo several forms of assessment.
He said that once accepted, applicants spent seven weeks taking part in rigorous challenges, and were assessed 60 times during the course.
“If they fail three tasks, they are disqualified from the course (hopefuls can reapply to do it at a later date),” he said.
“We set an extremely high standard and we never drop that standard,” Inspector Myer said.
