Medic
F/S Sharlene Clarke
Travel the world making a difference to people's lives, and get paid for it.
No, this isn't some sort of dream job it's the life of an Air Force Medic.
F/S Sharlene Clarke, originally from Tokoroa, has been a Medic in the RNZAF since 1986. She is currently SNCOIC of the Base Auckland Medical Flight. Besides the day-to-day running of the unit she is also the Acting Staff Officer Medical.
'I look after all the RNZAF medics and their careers. As Acting Staff Officer Medical I also assist the RNZAF Senior Medical Officer in whatever areas necessary.'
F/S Clarke joined as a medic because she was interested in nursing and the medical aspects of the trade.
'I spoke with a friend of the family who was a medic and she let me know all about it. It sounded like a bit of all right so away I went.'
During her 16 year Air Force career F/S Clarke has been deployed to Iraq and East Timor and is due to go back to East Timor with the Air Force's next rotation. Over the years she has worked with medics from many different countries.
'One of the best aspects of the job is working with people and with other nationalities. I have had the opportunity to work with Australians, Chileans, Bangladeshis, Swiss, Germans - the list goes on. We all operate together. It is really interesting working with the other nationalities.'
Due to the Air Force having so few medics the workload is extremely heavy, F/S Clarke says. And having a husband, SGT Russell Clarke, who is also a medic makes things increasingly difficult.
When on deployment F/S Clarke is in charge of the camps health and well being, which includes pest identification and dealing with all standard medical complaints like coughs and colds. She also carries out forward aero-medical evacuations, which can be anything from evacuating injured soldiers to assisting in the local villages, she says.
The most rewarding part of her job is making a difference in peoples' lives. You can see what you do on deployment is actually helping people, she says. One occasion stands out in her mind above the rest.
'There was a little girl in a village near our camp in East Timor. She had fallen out of a coconut tree and hit her eye on the corner of a roof on the way down. She was quite badly lacerated. We went to see her twice a day to change her dressing. We became quite attached to her. We would take her lollies. She was very beautiful. That's one of the nice things.'
What keeps her here? 'It's the variety of work that I really like. One day you can be working at the Base Medical Flight and the next be heading overseas where you will have aero-medical evacuations and a whole array of other tasks.'
F/S Clarke says a 'heck of a lot' of training goes into becoming a medic. Training starts as soon as you finish your recruit course and you never really stop learning, she says.
'We have to watch out for things changing and new procedures. It is all very rewarding though. Qualified Air Force Medics receive a Diploma in Military Medicine. We are also working towards giving medics an Ambulance Qualification so they will have a civilian qualification when they leave the Air Force.'