Tuncurry NSW Ambulance intensive care paramedic Steven Martyn has been announced as a finalist in the 2017 Rotary NSW Emergency Services Community Awards.
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Mr Martyn is one of four nominees for the NSW Ambulance award and a finalist for the Emergency Services Officer of the Year in a volunteer capacity award.
He said he was honoured to be nominated by Taree paramedic Trudy Martin.
"It was a humbling surprise but then, on reflection, it was an honour.
"I was very proud, particularly when I learnt more about the depth, meaning and significance of that award.
"It's very rewarding in ways that you may not expect,” Mr Martyn said.
The awards aim to highlight the community work emergency services personnel do outside of their normal roles.
For Mr Martyn, one of his main practices has been working with Ronald McDonald House Charities for the past 12 years.
Mr Martyn has volunteered his time taking children and their families on boat trips around Wallis Lake, a number he predicted was over 750.
He said the idea of volunteering is very rewarding and he encouraged others in the Great Lakes community to do the same.
"You may feel that you are going pretty hard, but I find that when you have contact with other folk, it's humbling, leveling and it grounds you.
"Sometimes you may feel like you have nothing to offer but my father always said that sometimes less is more and sometimes a little difference can make a big difference,” Mr Martyn said.
Mr Martyn began his time in the ambulance service on April 27, 1981.
After finishing preliminary training in Rozelle, he spent time in Bankstown and Campsie before taking training in intensive care.
From there he was posted to Green Valley, Bankstown and Port Macquarie.
He then finished up in Tuncurry where he has been stationed for the past 25 years. He said the opportunity to help in the community is driven from his passion as a paramedic.
"It was the opportunity to be able to help people.
"That doesn't necessarily mean doing physical things for those people but it also touches how they feel because emotionally they may not be in a good place when they call for us.
"The words that resonated with me were long after people may have forgotten the specifics of what you actually did for them, they'll still remember the way you made them feel,” Mr Martyn said.
Mr Martyn would like to thank paramedic Trudy Martin, Ronald McDonald Family Retreats area manager Rhiannon Curtis and Graham Barclay Marine (who maintain the vessel used to carry out the Wallis Lake boat trips).
