{"id":72074,"date":"2014-06-24T23:01:37","date_gmt":"2014-06-24T13:01:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=72074"},"modified":"2020-11-30T12:51:38","modified_gmt":"2020-11-30T02:51:38","slug":"ambo-says-school-gives-better-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2014\/06\/24\/ambo-says-school-gives-better-life\/","title":{"rendered":"Ambo Says ‘School
Gives Better Life’"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Peter<\/a>
Peter Mickelo says he’s glad he graduated from Murgon State High School because it allowed him to work in a job he loves (Photo: Marcus Priaulx)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

June 24, 2014<\/strong><\/p>\n

by Marcus Priaulx<\/strong>
\nBarambah PaCE<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Peter Mickelo\u2019s adrenaline surged during his first job as an ambulance officer …<\/p>\n

A man was trapped under fallen scaffolding five metres high and had slashed his wrists on the debris.<\/p>\n

His mates tried to stem the bleeding using beach towels but with no success.<\/p>\n

Peter and his senior officer put combine pads on the wounds and bandaged them before rushing the man to Royal Brisbane Hospital.<\/p>\n

He survived.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was pretty graphic; a shed load of blood everywhere,\u201d Peter, 46, said.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy heart was pretty well pumping after seeing the wounds – I felt pretty happy and thankful we got him there alive.\u201d<\/p>\n

* * *<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Fifteen years on Peter still loves his job and says he’s glad he graduated from Murgon State High School or he\u2019d never been able to do it.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Peter also has a high regard for the teachers that taught him.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey made us want to learn,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey made lessons interesting and myself and a lot of Indigenous students wanted to turn up for school. They treated you not just as a student but as a person and sometimes like their own children.\u201d<\/p>\n

This made Peter want to be a teacher.<\/p>\n

When he graduated from Year 12 he was accepted into three universities and chose James Cook in Townsville.<\/p>\n

But after eight months he realised teaching was not for him. He then worked in childcare centres at Atherton, Brisbane and his hometown of Cherbourg.<\/p>\n

Then he worked as a Cherbourg Aboriginal Shire Council groundsman and with a community police officer before Cyril Fisher suggested he try out for the ambulance.<\/p>\n

* * *<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Peter had never given the service a thought before, but was curious.<\/strong><\/p>\n

He completed a written and physical examination and was chosen ahead of five applicants to do a two-month Brisbane training stint.<\/p>\n

There he did CPR, defibrillator and other lifesaving lessons, completed exams, driver safety training, abseiling and orienteering (the latter left students in the bush with a compass, a map and instructions to find their way out).<\/p>\n

Graduates like Peter were then placed with a station.<\/p>\n

\u201cI chose Spring Hill because I wanted somewhere I thought would be busy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

After his first job Peter knew he\u2019d found the type of work he wanted to do.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s also thankful he went to school and finished Year 12 or he believes he\u2019d never have been chosen for the role.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat helps in the ambulance is being able to work with different and diverse people in the community,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSchool teaches you that as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cI tell students to work on building a rapport with their teachers.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was in high school they were there to help and guide you. It was like they were our friends. They wanted you to succeed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you get on with people you can make school work for you.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd it will give you a better life.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Peter<\/a>
South Burnett ambo Peter Mickelo still sees his teachers in the streets of Murgon from time to time and has a 30-year school reunion coming up (Photo: Marcus Priaulx)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Peter Mickelo\u2019s adrenaline surged during his first job as an ambulance officer<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":72075,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[172,3],"tags":[1135,28],"yoast_head":"\nAmbo Says 'School Gives Better Life' - southburnett.com.au<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2014\/06\/24\/ambo-says-school-gives-better-life\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ambo Says 'School Gives Better Life' - southburnett.com.au\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Peter Mickelo\u2019s adrenaline surged during his first job as an ambulance officer\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2014\/06\/24\/ambo-says-school-gives-better-life\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"southburnett.com.au\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-06-24T13:01:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-11-30T02:51:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/20140624-ambos1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"620\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"385\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Anne Miller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Anne Miller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2014\/06\/24\/ambo-says-school-gives-better-life\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2014\/06\/24\/ambo-says-school-gives-better-life\/\",\"name\":\"Ambo Says 'School Gives Better Life' - 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