Episode 25 - Darren Hodge. How to reset when pressure overwhelms.

David Georgiou is a former professional Rugby League player who had stints with Penrith Panthers and Brisbane Broncos in the NRL, as well as representing Greece between 2005 and 2012. He is now a successful business owner and entrepreneur, having owned and operated Precision Fitness 24/7 since 2014.

Through his business, David has helped hundreds of people transform their mindsets and physiques, and is passionate about developing young athletes and educating them to achieve healthier, stronger versions of themselves. With his background in sports, David understands the importance of discipline, hard work, and perseverance in achieving success both on and off the field. He brings this same level of dedication and commitment to his work as a business owner, and is constantly striving to improve himself and his business.

Link to his gym website: 

www.precisionfitness.com.au

Brigid is a Critical Care Paramedic based in Brisbane. Over the past twenty years she has gained extensive EMS experience in both Australia and Ireland. She is interested in educating and developing paramedics to empower them to perform at their best. Her superpower is in cultivating professional relationships to achieve the best patient outcomes.

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For more, go to  https://www.paramedicmindset.com.au/

 

Music by Ehrling Music.

Brad Miers is a Senior Operations Supervisor and Critical Care Paramedic for the Queensland Ambulance Service. He has over 32 years' of experience in both rural and urban response. Of these, 25 years were spent working in fixed and rotary-winged aircraft.

He was born in a small shearing town in Western Queensland and he grew up being raised by the stoic and resilient men and women of the bush. This provided him with the necessary adaptive attributes to provide the highest pre-hospital clinical care in an unpredictable environment. 

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For more, go to  https://www.paramedicmindset.com.au/

Music by Ehrling Music.

James is a medical doctor with an interest in the extremes of human performance and physiology. With a background in critical care medicine he has been fortunate to combine this professional experience with first hand involvement in a range of challenging environmental extremes.

Through the completion of ultramarathons and high-altitude climbing expeditions, including a successful ascent of Mt Everest, he is passionate about translating this understanding to how our bodies and minds function when under extreme pressure.

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For more, go to  https://www.paramedicmindset.com.au/

 

Music by Ehrling Music.

For Russell Manser, robbing a bank felt like parachuting out of a plane. The adrenaline, the rush, the risk.

Crashing through the doors, sizing up the room, hoping the security guard in the corner didn't decide to be a hero. Leaping over the teller counters to empty the drawers where the big bank notes were kept.

And yet, in spite of the balaclava and the weapon, he was regarded by his peers as "a gentleman" bank robber. Polite. Professional. The guns were rarely loaded. "You don't want people panicking because that will cause you problems."

Sometimes he would even apologise and tell them to "have a good day" on the way out. The real thrill was getting out the door without being blasted in the head, holding a big bag of cash.

But there is no such thing as a gentleman bank robber. There is just a criminal. He knows that now. He knows he traumatised and damaged people, terrified them.

Manser, about to turn 17, was sentenced to 12 months in an adult prison to deter "kids from Mount Druitt stealing Porsches from affluent areas".

At Long Bay he was put into One Wing — a protection wing — which often housed sex offenders who would otherwise be killed in the main prison. He was skinny, young, blonde and blue-eyed. A "pretty boy".

Manser says as he was put into a cell with two paedophiles, the prison officer said, "have fun, boys".

"I was just a kid," Manser recalls.

 

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For more, go to  https://www.paramedicmindset.com.au/

 

Music by Ehrling Music.

 

His career in Ambulance Victoria has been rich with opportunities. Only a few years had passed after qualifying as a paramedic he was offered the opportunity to undertake intensive care training, known as MICA. He found the role at times challenging, but highly rewarding.

 Tenures at the different ambulance colleges unearthed a love of teaching that continues today and has spanned more than 25 years. Assisting paramedics to master their craft has been one of his most satisfying achievements.

After 15 years as a paramedic, he achieved his ultimate career goal after joining Air Ambulance, working on fixed and rotary wing aircraft. He describes the role as extreme, attending to the sickest and most seriously injured patients. A role that has seen him in the waters of Bass Straight, the deep Victorian bush and on top of the highest snow-covered mountains, all to help a person in need.

 He regards his experiences working with highly talented paramedics, pilots and crewmen at Air Ambulance as a career highlight,

“To work in a team of people committed to helping a patient in crisis is a privilege. To know that your team has played a small part in saving a life, there can be no greater reward”.

For more go to, https://www.darrenhodge.com/ 

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For more, go to  https://www.paramedicmindset.com.au/

 

Music by Ehrling Music

For as long as I can remember, I’ve been chasing “success” and running from “failure”. I’ve had super high highs and incredibly low lows. Mine is an interesting story – and for a long time it was a story I didn’t want to tell because I felt like I’d failed. 

As a kid dreaming of performing on stage, I had the life I’d always wanted by the age of 21. I was touring internationally with Savage Garden, later securing my own record deal, releasing a hit single, which became the most played Australian song on commercial radio in 2001. Success came early, but was short lived.

By 27 I was dropped from my label, broke with no job or prospects. And then on top of it all, I lost my mum unexpectedly, and my life fell to pieces. I was lost in grief, scared shitless, and left to start again. 

This moment wasn’t fearless. It was messy and full of fear – but I made myself take just one tiny step. I went back to study and found a new outlet for my creativity. 

And I began to untell the stories I had told to myself about who I was and what I was capable of.  I redefined my fucked up definition of success and started on the journey of becoming the kind of person who could make it happen.

For more on Jen Jeavons visit her website - https://jenjeavons.com/ 

 

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For more, go to  https://www.paramedicmindset.com.au/

 

Music by Ehrling Music.

Andrew began his training in the UK and after a brief sojourn to sail around the world he settled in Melbourne to complete his training at Western Health, where he now works.
 
He is passionate about the well-being of healthcare workers and has worked with AHPRA and Safer Care Victoria to make things a little bit better. He continues to promote this through his role as a regional well-being champion.
 
His other passion is knowledge translation. His work, via Don't Forget the Bubbles, has been referenced by everyone from the WHO to Jimmy Fallon.

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For more, go to  https://www.paramedicmindset.com.au/

 

Music by Ehrling Music.

The Story Shared:

Brad opened up about a time when a friend and fellow paramedic tragically died in a helicopter crash. The experience of dealing with another paramedic’s death on the job struck a nerve in Brad as he had to deal with his own mortality. Later on in his career, he would come to work and operate out of the same helicopter service for over 14 years. He shares how he was able to overcome the grief of his friend dying and do the same thing that killed him.  

About Brad Norris:

Brad “Nobby” Norris started working for the ambulance in 1988 at the tender age of 18. He has worked as a paramedic for the past 34 years and continues to this day.

Working as a critical care paramedic for 17 years, Brad has vast knowledge and experience in the profession demonstrated by having worked as an Urban Search and Rescue Officer, special response team leader, rescue helicopter paramedic, officer in charge, educator, and operation supervisor. 

He describes having a fantastic career with lifelong friends, and brotherhood and loved helping people. He has gone from a shy boy at school to a confident man who takes charge of challenging scenes. After all these years still going strong mentally, physically, enthusiastic and focused as a clinician is a testament to his nature.

He is now looking forward to the next few years mentoring the younger generation and guiding them through their initial challenging years. 

Career Highlights:

→ Responding to Earthquake in New Zealand.

→ Operating in fires, floods and cyclones as a special response team leader.  

Expertise:

→ Real-world application of paramedic skills.

→ Leadership under pressure.   

 

Follow me on Instagram and  YouTube.

For more, go to  https://www.paramedicmindset.com.au/

 

Music by Ehrling Music.

The Story Shared:

Sam Bloom spoke about a time when her best friend was killed by a grenade in Africa and how she should have been with him at the time of the accident. Sam suffered from survivor’s guilt, wishing that it was her instead of her friend. She also goes on to describe the effects of the tragic accident that led to her being paralysed and in a wheelchair.

About Sam Bloom:

The blink of an eye, a heartbeat, a split second in time. That’s all it took for Sam Bloom’s life to change forever.

Sam had everything she had always dreamed of. She’d travelled extensively, fulfilled her childhood dream of becoming a nurse and was a happily married mother of three young boys.

Without warning, the dream turned into a nightmare when on a 2013 family holiday in Thailand, Sam fell through a rotten balcony railing and crashed six metres onto the concrete below.

Lucky to be alive, she’d suffered devastating injuries, including severe damage to her spinal cord that left her paralysed from the chest down.

Broken and hopeless, Sam reached her outer limits of physical and mental suffering. But with courage, determination and a little help from an unlikely feathered friend, she made her way back from the edge, scarred but undefeated.

Career Highlights:

→ World Para Surfing Champion.

→ Paralympian representing Australia. 

→ Her story has now been transformed into a major film produced by Naomi Watts.

Expertise:

→ Inspirational speaker.

→ Ambassador to multiple not-for-profit organisations. 

→ Sam Bloom: Heartache & Birdsong shares Sam’s personal perspective on facing and overcoming adversity.

 

For more on Sam Bloom visit her website - https://sambloom.com.au

 

Follow me on Instagram and  YouTube.

For more, go to  https://www.paramedicmindset.com.au/

 

Music by Ehrling Music.