On Monday night, we had the pleasure of Neil Akers presenting a recap of his career with Ambulance Victoria to club members.

He proudly acknowledged he was a member of the 1983 D9820 Group Study Exchange program which was a unique cultural and vocational exchange opportunity for young business and professional men and women in their initial years of professional life.

A local son, Neil was born in Yallourn North and raised in Morwell. When he was 16 years old his family moved to South Australia. Whilst on a visit to his grandmother in Morwell, he enquired about a cadet position and after three years of training, he commenced his career as an ambulance officer. He has served in stations throughout Gippsland and Latrobe Valley.

Neil has been a paramedic since 1970 and has been a strong advocate for training and continual improvement. He has been a specialist in multi-agency emergency management planning and response and in building close ties with communities in distress. Neil was involved in the state-wide coordination for the 2009 bushfires including Black Saturday, the Victorian floods in 2010 and 2012 and the 2014 Hazelwood mine fire.

During the COVID pandemic, Neil accepted the role of Emergency Management Coordinator and has recently retired although still involved in mentoring young paramedics in an ambulance community officer role which he enjoys.

Neil commented that the biggest change he had seen in his five decades was the improvement in training for paramedics and the results of the 2008 merger which produced a single state-wide service.

Neil received an Ambulance Service Medal in the 2016 Australia Day Honours.

Neil Akers (left) pictured with President Robin Noakes (right)

                        Clever definitions.    
 
 
These fit so well they should be in a dictionary. 
  

ADULT  
A person who has stopped growing at both ends and is now growing in the middle. 

BEAUTY PARLOUR  
A place where women curl up and dye. 

CHICKENS 
The only animals you eat before they are born and after they are dead. 

COMMITTEE 
A body that keeps minutes and wastes hours. 

DUST 
Mud with the juice squeezed out. 

EGOTIST 
Someone who is usually me-deep in conversation. 

HANDKERCHIEF 
Cold Storage. 

INFLATION  
Cutting money in half without damaging the paper . 

MOSQUITO 
An insect that makes you like flies better. 

RAISIN 
A grape with a sunburn. 

SECRET
Something you tell to one person at a time. 

SKELETON 
A bunch of bones with the person scraped off. 

TOOTHACHE 
The pain that drives you to extraction. 

TOMORROW 
One of the greatest labour saving devices of today. 

YAWN 
An honest opinion openly expressed. 
And MY Personal Favorite!! 

WRINKLES 
Something other people have, similar to my character lines.

 

Supplied by Ross