Central West, emergency services tell their "best" stories of 2019

The stories written about them are based on the facts - accidents that leave roads closed and people injured, fires that tear through homes and, unfortunately, sometimes fatalities.

So as another year winds up, we asked our emergency service personnel to tell us the good stories: the ones that made them proud or the ones that make them glad they do what they do.

A raging bushfire moving at the speed of a freight train would put fear in the hearts of many, but volunteer firefighter Margaret Struthers sees it as a chance to help out.

She has volunteered with the NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) in the Canobolas Zone for the past eight years, but this one has been one of her busiest.

Deputy Captain Struthers has been deployed all over NSW to help communities and each time she has been met with praise and gratitude from residents.

Earlier this year she was in a small group of firefighters standing on the edge of a hill in Moonbi Ridge near Tamworth waiting for the fire to come.

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"It was coming up this hill ... if it goes further, if it jumps, Limbri was the next locality it would hit and there were quite a few houses that would be at risk," she said.

She said the sound of a bushfire barrelling down on you is like nothing else.

"We're just standing there on that ridge, then when it hits you [the fire], you hear the roar of the fire and the heat is incredible," she said.

"The flames were 10 to 20 feet high [three to six metres] and I kept having to put my hand up to protect my face.

"We thought there was no way we could stop it, but we did."

While those moments might be terrifying, Deputy Captain Struthers said what comes next makes it all worthwhile.

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"You're tired, you're hot, sometimes you'd rather not be there, but then you get these little notes in your lunchbox and it's absolutely wonderful. It lifts our spirits," she said.

Those notes, from schoolchildren, have been passed to the RFS and then onto frontline firefighters as they pause to eat before battling more blazes.

Intensive care paramedic Christian Stokes has been with NSW Ambulance for 14 years and is currently based in Bathurst.

One day this year he received an emergency call-out for a five-year-old girl having an anaphylactic reaction to something she'd just eaten.

"This is a very serious, life-threatening emergency; it can go bad very quickly," Mr Stokes said.

"You get swelling of your airways, low blood pressure, a fast heart rate and they'll [the patient] be quite sweaty."

For patients not treated quickly enough, an attack can lead to death.

This call-out, however, was very different.

Mr Stokes said staff at the girl's childcare centre quickly recognised the signs of an anaphylaxis attack and administered EpiPen medication, which gives the patient a shot of adrenaline and more time until paramedics arrive.

"It was a life-saving intervention," he said.

"I've done some nasty jobs this year and it stays with you for life, so when you can make a difference on a job it definitely helps."

"Hey Burnsy, come and look at this."

These few words mean the world to Senior Constable Ian Burns and he says they're proof that he is helping to change young lives for the better.

He is part of the NSW Police Aboriginal Youth Team in Dubbo and one of those involved with Project Walwaay (meaning young man), an initiative designed to engage with at-risk Indigenous youth.

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The project gives these children a place to be, something to do and an opportunity to be heard.

"We're giving them a chance to see a brighter future," Snr Const Burns said.

The police officer knows only too well what it's like growing up in a home in a tough neighbourhood where there's domestic violence and poverty.

"We lived in a council flat in Birmingham and we were poor as kids," he said of his youth in England.

He said it was difficult to see past the bleakness of his circumstances and even dare to dream of a brighter future.

"It can be hard to see a way out, but if you keep hearing and visualising it, you have a better chance of changing the future," he said.

Of the 22 children, aged from 11 to 16 years, involved in Project Walwaay, many "don't engage in education", but it's his goal to change that.

"I really believe in these kids and their future ... everyone wants someone to believe in them," he said.

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Project Walwaay's Friday Fun Night at Dubbo PCYC is open to the wider community and attracts around 90 young people each week.

"Friday night used to be our hottest crime night, now it's our second quietest night," Snr Const Burns said.

"Within a couple of months that happened and it shows that if you give the kids something to do and they're not bored, it helps."

Snr Const Burns hears "hey Burnsy" many times on these nights from children who want to engage with him and have someone listen to them - and he said it "means the world" to him.

The other moment that made him proud was when a fellow officer began working on Project Walwaay and realised straight away the impact it was having.

In his 16 years as a police officer, his time with Project Walwaay has been among his most satisfying.

"I see a lot of disadvantaged kids that need someone to give them a hand," he said. "I'm just so fortunate to be given the opportunity to work with kids in this way."

MINDFULNESS and meditation might not be something you'd usually associate with firefighters, but it's something that is changing lives.

When Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) firefighters sign up for the job, they know they'll see some confronting things at fires, accidents and rescue incidents, but every now and then those images are haunting.

FRNSW peer support officer in the Central West, Senior Firefighter Brad McWilliams, is the person many of his own turn to when they need to talk.

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His volunteer role to support his colleagues was prompted by something he saw three years into the job.

"I remember my first fatality ... it was a motor vehicle accident and the passenger was not in a good way," he said.

"I remember staring at this person and I was just completely blank, I didn't know how to feel. I didn't know that there was support out there."

A family member's struggle with mental health also helped him understand why "building up your resilience around mental health" was so important.

"I'm passionate around mental health issues."

While he is having a short break from the role, he said it has given him much satisfaction this year.

He has conducted phone and face-to-face sessions with firefighters across the region who are suffering from anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

"One of the best ways to come out the other end [after being at a critical incident] is to talk about it," he said.

"I've been excited and really found how forthcoming people are to try something new."

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