![Locking up for the last time: Paramedic Gary Macreadie retires after 43 years of work. Pictures Rod Thompson Locking up for the last time: Paramedic Gary Macreadie retires after 43 years of work. Pictures Rod Thompson](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/184500760/50a5915f-874f-4848-8fd5-5d75288f79d2.jpg/r0_0_5106_3830_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
A career spanning 43 years in any field is an impressive feat.
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But not many can attest to saving lives and delivering babies as part of their nine to five.
For recently retired paramedic Gary Macreadie, it was just another day on the job.
"There was never a day where I got up and said, I don't want to go to work today," Mr Macreadie said.
"I always enjoyed going to work and enjoyed what I did, a lot of people can't say that. If you enjoy the job you're doing it's not a job, it's a lifestyle."
While he studied to be a teacher, Mr Macreadie started as a paramedic at 24-years-old in rural South East Victoria.
He then moved to Tasmania in 1990 where he worked for Ambulance Tasmania for 33 years.
"I wasn't finding work as a teacher and had a friend who was a paramedic, I thought it looked interesting," Mr Macreadie said.
![Paramedic Gary Macreadie reflects on 43 years of work at the Ambulance Tasmania Launceston depo. Paramedic Gary Macreadie reflects on 43 years of work at the Ambulance Tasmania Launceston depo.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/184500760/c469419e-aa0c-4a3a-854b-53f3a59155ac.jpg/r0_0_5184_3888_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
"When I started, we started without any training and did two weeks of in house training, and then we were working; we didn't do any official training for three months.
"That was back in the days when in Victoria, they decided all country stations or headquarters were going to employ two-man cars because before that, they're only one person every ambulance."
Mr Macreadie still remembers his first day on the job, and described it as "the blind leading the blind."
"You were six months in as a student and also training new students back then," he said.
"Launceston was a big city compared to where I was so there was more work, I'd never worked with someone else before. I worked by myself for nearly 10 years."
He said being a paramedic was more of a lifestyle than a job, and never felt like it was too taxing.
"It's always memorable when you deliver a baby, other things that stand out were some of the fatalities and road accidents, those were always the hardest," he said.
![Gary Macreadie in the Ambulance Tasmania Launceston office. Gary Macreadie in the Ambulance Tasmania Launceston office.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/184500760/4ce1f88b-4bcc-425d-a52e-71c5dd197276.jpg/r0_0_5031_3768_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
"But when you've had a successful resuscitation after someone's had a cardiac arrest, that was always satisfying especially when you see them later on and have a coffee with them which I've done."
True to his "no regrets" tattoo on his forearm, Mr Macreadie has never looked back.
"You turn up for work and never know what you're going to do ... it could be anything from a simple medical case or a road accident, you never know what 's going to happen and that's the good thing about it," he said.
While he adjusts to retirement, Mr Macreadie said he plans to stay involved in some form of volunteer or community work.
"I'm just taking my time cruising into retirement," he said.
Ambulance Tasmania director of operations Alistair Shephard thanked Mr Macreadie for his work and the students he mentored along the way.
"I think there's a lot of people with us today that relied on experienced paramedics like Gary as leads in their role in their career journey," Mr Shephard said.