Today I congratulate valued frontline worker and Wakehurst constituent Superintendent Paul Kernick, who was awarded an Ambulance Service Medal on Australia Day. Paul has been a member of NSW Ambulance for nearly 40 years, working in a number of vital roles including as a swiftwater rescue operator and a helicopter critical care paramedic.
He was one of the first responders as an intensive care paramedic at the tragic Thredbo landslide in 1997, helping to rescue patients from the rocky terrain while under enormous pressure from an unpredictable and rapidly unfolding disaster. Today Paul continues his distinguished service to the community as the senior manager of helicopter training at the Bankstown helicopter base training centre. He ensures that all staff working in NSW Ambulance's helicopter operations are trained to the highest clinical and safety standards, and he is deployed across New South Wales as a special casualty access team member during bushfires, floods, landslides and other natural emergencies. I congratulate Paul. This award is extremely well deserved, and I thank him immensely for his decades of service.
20 February 2025, 15:57.