In his 40 years as a NSW Ambulance paramedic specialist, Pete Hogan has been held hostage by a gunman, mourned the loss of a paramedic brother who was killed on the job, and attended countless road and bush tragedies.
But the trauma has been countered by so many positive experiences where lives have been saved and families reunited; constantly reaffirming the Springwood man’s original intention for joining the role – to help others.
“I know it sounds a bit cliché but I really like helping people. That’s why I do it. That’s what keeps me going,” Mr Hogan said.
Based at Springwood Ambulance, Mr Hogan has spent his career in the Blue Mountains, and marked four decades with NSW Ambulance on April 26.
The role has involved many bush rescues over the years, which often proved tests in endurance. “One night shift I went out on my own with the police rescue at Katoomba for a 12-year-old boy who had broken his ankle,” Mr Hogan recalled.
“They got the owner of the Scenic Railway to start it up and take us down into the valley and then we walked out to Mount Solitary before carrying the patient back. The job took about 12 hours.”
The year 1986 was a difficult one for Mr Hogan who lost his older brother Paul, also a paramedic based at Springwood, who died when a semi-trailer lost control on the Great Western Highway and collided head-on with the ambulance.
Several months later, Mr Hogan and his partner became involved in a hostage situation unfolding at Woodford as part of a child custody dispute.
“We arrived to find a woman on the side of the road; she had been shot and was deceased. A second patient had been shot in the stomach and foot. We grabbed him and ran up the hill and placed him behind a telegraph pole, where we also took cover,” he said.
“Not long after, an ambulance arrived and took him. We returned to our car but the gunman came out of the house. He had the child in one arm, a rifle over his shoulder and another in his hand. He told us to stay where we were. This went on for about an hour. We told him we had two patients who needed transporting. All of a sudden he said we could go.”
The now 60-year-old father of three, said highlights involved looking after the elderly, especially war veterans.
“I’ve also probably assisted with the delivery of 20 babies. It’s always a thrill to see them walking down the street years later.”
