Emma Shawyer is an ICP rescue paramedic with NSW Ambulance. She has 10 years’ experience on the road with 6 years in intensive care and 18 months as a rescue paramedic. These roles have seen her on the frontline, helping communities in times of national disaster including COVID-19, floods, and fires, and providing specialist experience during transport incidents in rural areas.
As a lead clinician within her workplace, Emma has a passion for supporting her colleague’s wellbeing and interests outside of the agency. She dedicates time to learning about individuals’ adventures and achievements and leading a gratitude concept within her station. Emma shared, “I find these thoughts and actions have a greater effect on camaraderie within a service and allow paramedics to be identified as more than just a uniform.”
Emma is aware of the often unfavorable changes and impact that being a first responder can leave on family members, including her own. To combat this, Emma prioritises both family time and her personal fitness goals when she is off duty; “My world consists of being an active mum with my two kids and my enjoyment of sport and running. I made a long-term goal to my family to travel the world completing marathons. I love the journey of working towards completing goals and strengthening the mind to accomplish hard things.”
Emma shared her own experience utilising Fortem’s services by saying, “I am grateful that Fortem has walked me through the act of goal setting and encouraging me to participate in the NYC Marathon. Fortem has also successfully guided me to re-train and showed me I have a skillset that is very valuable to the greater community. Learning something new and having a goal to look forward to has increased my strength as a paramedic and has prolonged my career.”
By joining Fortem as an ambassador, Emma is committing to guiding the first responder community to find their passions and continuously strive for more.
“It is in these moments outside the blues, we become stronger and more resilient individuals. As a paramedic, we are proud to wear this uniform. The contribution we have given to the greater community while standing alongside our colleagues has been an incredible dedication and sacrifice. However, I strongly believe we are more than the uniform. We have more to give.”