Joe Northover talks about working as an Ambulance Officer and State Emergency Service volunteer

Audio Recording

Joe Northover talks about working as an Ambulance Officer and State Emergency Service volunteer

Audio Transcript

Denise Cook: And what do you do now?

Joe Northover: I help my brother out now, Phillip. I still do my voluntary work SES. I’ve been here twenty years.

Denise Cook: Do you want to just say what you do here?

Joe Northover: I’m in communications here but before that I used to actually be the manager. Of Busselton, Collie, Donnybrook. I was a volunteer ambulance officer for sixteen years. I got my medals.

Denise Cook: Which medals?

Joe Northover: National medal. Community service medal and my St John’s medal. So I got them. I wear them proudly.

Denise Cook: What’s the National medal and the Community service medal for?

Joe Northover: That’s my medal after fifteen years service in Emergency Services and the Community services is for working in the community and serving the community and like St John’s is ambulance. I’m still here after twenty years. That’s a good thing. Seen a lot of bad things too and also good things. In the ambulance service you see a lot of trauma. Again, there’s the other side to the coin where you see a lot of children being born. That’s a wonderful thing. First job you go to of the night might be a car accident where somebody’s died or hurt really bad then a couple of hours later you done a job and you’re holding this new born baby in your hand. So one overrides the other. It’s a blessing seeing new life. So yeah.

From: Joe Northover, interview for South West Aboriginal Land and Sea Council, 31 July 2008

Protocols
SWALSC followed cultural protocols to obtain permission to use this oral history on the website. It is also protected by copyright law and may only be used for private study, research, criticism or review. If you would like to use it for any commercial purposes, including publication, making copies for sale, or modifying it please contact SWALSC on reception@noongar.org.au or Level 2, 100 Royal Street, East Perth WA 6004.
Note: In some cases the written transcript has been edited with permission from the person interviewed and may differ slightly from the audio recording.

Permission to use this audio recording kindly granted by Joe Northover