A BENDIGO paramedic has farewelled Ambulance Victoria, after 43 years with the service.
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Kevin Crowle retired from the Eaglehawk ambulance station last week. He had worked as a paramedic in Greater Bendigo for 40 years.
In his time he's delivered more than 20 babies, including twins.
Mr Crowle was about five years out of school, working in retail, when he first signed up for the ambulance service. It was in Swan Hill in 1977.
He applied for a position advertised in the local paper, then went for three weeks training in Melbourne.
Mr Crowle said paramedics were basically just stretcher bearers at that stage, with only a St John's Ambulance First Aid Certificate.
From then on he did service training, with modules such as Ventolin, pain relief, resuscitation.
Paramedics had access to just one sedative when Mr Crowle started - and it was probably weaker than paracetamol, he said. Now they use 20 or more medications in the field.
Changes have been constant across the service, from management, to the vehicles, training, and CPR techniques.
With the changes has come improved ability to care for patients, he said.
Mr Crowle worked in Swan Hill for about 15 months, before transferring to Gisborne. He moved to Bendigo in October 1980, and he's worked in the city ever since.
For the past eight or nine years he's been based at the Eaglehawk ambulance station.
Mr Crowle is one of few paramedics to have stayed in the job so long.
It was partly a financial decision, but Mr Crowle also enjoyed supervising new staff on the job.
He said many came out of university with a lot of knowledge, but without much practical experience.
It's similar to what Mr Crowle loved about the job: the people. He'll miss catching up with colleagues and hospital staff that he used to deal with daily.
"[I liked] working with and helping people, and the camaraderie," he said.
"Catching up with people that I've known for a long time, people who appreciate what I've taught them, and how I've helped them."
Mr Crowle's retirement plans for overseas travel have been put on hold for now. But he and his wife plan to upgrade the caravan and see Australia when he can leave the state.
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