Last month Geoff Harling retired after 36 years with NSW Ambulance, almost 20 of which he was based at Merimbula Ambulance Station.
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After starting his career in Sydney at 23, the now 59-year-old said there are some things he experienced that he will never forget.
In 1984, when he had been working as a paramedic for five years, Mr Harling was in an ambulance that was following a police chase.
He watched as police cornered a bank robber on the Spit Bridge after he had taken 11 people hostage.
“All of a sudden police stormed the car and shot through the back of it, blew this guys head off,” Mr Harling said. “One of the police officers on the scene managed to get his face nearly half blown off by a blast and we were right there while it was all happening.”
Quick work by the paramedics meant that Detective Senior Constable Steve Canelis, who was shot in the face at point-blank range, survived.
The event has been described as Australia's most dramatic hostage chase.
Working as a paramedic in Sydney during the 1980s very memorable but Mr Harling said he will never forget being called to Eden to help a shark attack victim.
Eric Nerhus, a 41-year-old professional diver survived, after being half swallowed by the three-metre shark at Cape Howe, near Eden, in 2007.
“I was so surprised to see that Eric was still in tact. He was actually bitten and the shark swallowed his head but he managed to get his arm free and whack the shark which let him go,'' he said. “That was as pretty remarkable story of survival.”
Despite some extraordinary days on the job, Mr Harling said the most difficult issues for the ambulance service are the complications of smoking, obesity and a sedentary lifestyle.
“It’s all those things that the doctors bang on about, they cause heart disease and strokes, that’s what paramedics are dealing with almost daily.”
Upon his retirement Mr Harling had one piece of advise to offer the public.
“If in doubt call, don’t wait until it’s too late. I can’t count the number of times I have gone out to someone who has had chest pain for two days when they should have been in hospital a day and a half ago.”
Mr Harling officially retired on Friday, October 30 and was presented with gifts to acknowledge his service by NSW Ambulance commissioner David Dutton on Friday, November 13.
Now that he is retired, Mr Harling said he is looking forward to surfing more.