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In light of International Women’s Day last week, here at the ACT Emergency Services Agency (ESA) we have decided to look at how far we have come in improving women’s rights, equality and empowerment in the workplace.
The ACT Ambulance Service (ACTAS) has come a long way when it comes to representation. The 2023-24 Justice and Community Safety Directorate annual report showed over 50% of the ACTAS workforce are now female. Considering that once there were no female paramedics in Australia, the question is posed, how did we get here and who are the women that helped trailblaze the way?
Below we will give you an insight into two of these women, Cathy Csucsy and Chelsea Dawe.
Cathy Csucsy – joined ACTAS in 1984
Alongside Cathy Stephenson, Kim Shoard (nee Yarra) and Ingrid Mears, Cathy Csucsy was one of the first women to join ACTAS.
Having previously worked at Woden Valley Hospital as a nurse, Cathy had always been interested in the work that she had seen paramedics do, coming in and out of the emergency room, however she noticed that all of the staff were men. In 1984 that all started to change when an ad was sent out encouraging women to join the service.
Looking for a challenge, Cathy and her colleague Ingrid decided to apply for ACTAS to see how they go. Back then there was no paramedicine degree or strict training qualifications required to be a paramedic, although Cathy knew that her nursing training would come in handy.
Cathy describes her first few years as a paramedic as challenging, facing scrutiny from others in the service. Many thought that she shouldn’t be there and questioned her ability to lift patients because of her gender. She also had both colleagues and members of the public question her driving skills, as how could a female drive ‘such a vehicle’.
Cathy remembers almost leaving the service because she found this so difficult. However, she and her female colleagues saw this as good reason to prove they were right for the job and were meant to be there. Cathy ended up staying with ACTAS until 2024.
Upon reflecting on her time in the service Cathy sees a lot of growth that she is proud to be a part of, such as the introduction of intensive care paramedics and many more women joining the service. Her time as a paramedic gave her many experiences she won’t forget, such as an ambulance catching on fire at one of her jobs!
People like Cathy paved the way to help shape ACTAS into what it is today.
Chelsea Dawe – joined ACTAS in 2022
Chelsea joined ACTAS in 2022 as a Non-Emergency Patient Transport (NEPT) Officer. When Chelsea joined the service, the landscape was very different to when Cathy joined over 40 years ago. There are far more women in the service, and general acceptance of women as paramedics.
Chelsea has always aspired to join ACTAS. Having previously been a St John Ambulance cadet, she wanted to be in a line of work along this line that makes a difference in people’s lives.
As a new and busy mum, an ad to join ACTAS as an NEPT caught Chelsea’s eye and prompted her to change careers from hair dressing to patient care.
From the get go, Chelsea’s experience was quite different to Cathy’s in the early days. Chelsea has always felt supported by her colleagues no matter their gender. With a daughter only months old and still breastfeeding, she also says that her ACTAS managers and colleagues were very supportive in providing her privacy and an environment to take lactation breaks.
The public have also treated Chelsea with respect however, like Cathy, she can occasionally still receive comments questioning her driving abilities!
ACTAS had come a long way from 1984 to 2022 in women’s rights, equality and empowerment, but even in Chelsea’s time in the service she has seen progression in this space. She has noticed in three years a lot more women stepping into leadership positions.
Both Cathy and Chelsea agree that there are still improvements that can be made across ACTAS to improve equality for women. With many emergency services still male dominated, we hope their stories and experiences inspire others to make change for the better too.
