Highly respected Hume Clinical Support Officer (CSO) and Ambulance Service Medal (ASM) recipient Guy Zuccala ASM has retired from Ambulance Victoria (AV) after more than three decades on the road.
From when he was a child, Salvatore Guido Zuccala ASM, better known as Guy, was interested in becoming a paramedic and spent some of his youth providing first aid through St John Ambulance.
When he left school at the age of 17, Guy immediately joined the Geelong and District Ambulance Service as a cadet.
Hume CSO Guy Zuccala ASM has retired from AV after 36 years of service.
"I'm of Italian heritage and, unfortunately, I only lasted six months because I was racially vilified, which was terrible," he said.
"After that I did a few different jobs and ended up working at PANCH hospital, which was one of the major hospitals in Melbourne back in the day.
"One of the surgeons there happened to be on the ambulance service's board of management and he used to encourage me to come back to the ambulance service.
"By this point, the culture within the ambulance service had changed and there were a lot of Italian and Greek people working the job - when I had started, there were none.
"I let a year or so pass, then I saw them advertising for ambulance officers, so I thought I'd have a crack and the rest is history."
Guy joined the Metropolitan Ambulance Service in 1989, starting out at South Melbourne branch, before moving to Preston and Broadmeadows, then to Epping when it first opened in 1992.
"It was the northernmost branch in Melbourne at the time and the closest Mobile Intensive Care Ambulance (MICA) crew was miles away," Guy said.
"It was a different kettle of fish to what that area is today - you can't even compare it."
In 2004, Guy completed training to become a MICA paramedic himself before first stepping into the CSO role when seconded to the Alexandra District Ambulance Service (ADAS).
Soon after, the Metropolitan Ambulance Service, Rural Ambulance Victoria, and the ADAS were amalgamated into the current AV.
"They wanted to appoint a CSO to the new Hume 1 region, so I applied for the position, and I got it - and I ended up in that role for more than 15 years," Guy said.
The CSO role, among other things, involves travelling around your patch to provide clinical support to paramedics and first responders, and particularly, graduate paramedics and MICA students.
In the following years, Guy saw two of his career highlights - one, being involved in the medical advancement of paramedic practice in Victoria, and two, recognition on a national level.
In 2014, thrombolysis was being introduced as a treatment in Victoria.
The treatment uses medication to dissolve blood clots and is now a critical step in the treatment of many heart attacks and strokes.
"Seymour and the Hume 1 area were picked for the pilot of the treatment, so we got to use it before it was broadly implemented," Guy said.
"Myself and my crew did the second thrombolysis treatment in Victoria, which was a big feat.
"They used that case as part of the learning package for thrombolysis treatment, so it was a very memorable job."
Two years later, Guy was honoured with an ASM at the 2016 national Honours.
"I was absolutely stoked to know my colleagues put me forward for the ASM," Guy said.
"That in itself is one of the biggest highlights of my career.
"I couldn't believe it when I received a letter from the Governor General telling me I'd been nominated for an ASM - wow."
Guy finished up with AV in early February, saying he'll be taking some time to focus on his health before travelling.
He thanked his family and his colleagues for their support across his career.
"I want to thank my wife and my children for supporting me and standing by me through it all," Guy said.
"The number of times I had to leave them at dinner and rush out of a restaurant to go to work, or miss going to their sport games or events - I often wasn't around when I should have been.
"I want to thank them for supporting me despite all the times I put them out.
"The other people I'd like to particularly thank are the other MICA paramedics at Seymour - we really had each other's backs."
Guy said he's loved living and working in country Victoria.
"I lived in Seymour for a long time, and I basically knew everybody," he said.
"Working in the country, you're part of a community - you walk down the street and everybody knows you, knows your kids, knows where you live."
Hume 4 CSO Paul Stefaniak worked alongside Guy for two decades and said it was an absolute honour and privilege.
"Guy was a passionate advocate for all his paramedic colleagues and for the improvement of resourcing in his area," Paul said.
"Guy trained and mentored all levels of staff from Ambulance Community Officers (ACOs) to Advanced Life Support (ALS) and MICA paramedics.
"Guy was a consummate professional and an absolute gentleman who was highly respected and loved by all his colleagues."
