Paramedic reveals the horrifying reason he’d never let his children play with a skipping rope as he recalls traumatic sights he’s been confronted with in 32 years on the job
- Paramedic Darren Hodge has spoken about trauma behind 32 years on the job
- Mr Hodge told 3AW he would never let his children use a skipping rope
- He was called to a scene where a child accidentally hung themselves with rope
A long-term paramedic has revealed the horrifying reason he never let his children play with a skipping rope.
Darren Hodge has worked as a paramedic for 32 years in Victoria and spent the last 15 years serving patients from a helicopter as a Mobile Intensive Care Ambulance Flight Paramedic.
Speaking to 3AW, Mr Hodge lifted the lid on some of the mind-numbing sites he’s been forced to face on the job.
He said working as a paramedic for more than three decades has ‘without question’ made him fragile and even impacted his parenting strategies.
Darren Hodge has worked as a paramedic for 32 years and spent the last 15 years serving patients from a helicopter as a Mobile Intensive Care Ambulance Flight Paramedic
‘My poor children didn’t get to do a lot of things that their friends did because of their dad, and their mum, who’s a nurse,’ he told Neil Mitchell.
‘I can remember not letting my children play with a skipping rope once and that’s because I went to a child who’d accidentally hung himself with a skipping rope.
‘Little things like that, skateboards and bikes. The thought of my children getting on those devices without a helmet on was just absolutely forbidden.’
Mr Hodge said he would have ‘open discussions’ with his children – now aged 17 and 22 – about the ‘dangers’ of things such as drugs and cars.
Speaking to the toll of working as a paramedic, Mr Hodge used an analogy to explain how the trauma of an emergency can stay with crew members.
‘When you start, they give you a backpack, and every time you do a nasty job, you put a weight into that backpack,’ he said.
Mr Hodge said working as a paramedic for more than three decades has ‘without question’ made him fragile and even impacted his parenting strategies.
‘Eventually that backpack can get pretty heavy and sometimes for some people unfortunately they can’t continue to carry that backpack.’
Mr Hodge revealed he had thought about walking away from the career ‘more than once’ and it was typically during ‘moments of panic’, like when he thought his helicopter would crash into a hospital while attempting to land.
The long-term paramedic also spoke about his feelings of ‘hate’ when called to emergency scenes which shouldn’t have happened.
‘I just hate the fact that people can have no culpability and have their lives completely changed, it’s simply not fair,’ he said.
‘It’s again those messages for young people. Be responsible and that thought ”it’s not going to happen to me” well if you be irresponsible, it will happen to you.’
Mr Hodge has written a book about his life on the job, which he described as a cathartic process.
The book – A Life on the Line – explores Mr Hodge’s experiences being caught up in the Bali bombings and working through the Black Saturday fires, among other instances in the paramedic profession.
The long-term paramedic also spoke about his feelings of ‘hate’ when called to emergency scenes which shouldn’t have happened. ‘I just hate the fact that people can have no culpability and have their lives completely changed, it’s simply not fair,’ he said