WHEN Newcastle doctor Amy Stokoe carries the match ball onto McDonald Jones Stadium on Thursday night she'll be thinking about what the spectacle means for her daughters.
A sold-out crowd of 30,000 people - the biggest attendance for a Women's State Of Origin game - is expected to turn out to cheer the Blues.
Among the packed stands will be Dr Stokoe's daughters Lara, 12 and Taylor, 10.
Lara is a member of the Jets junior squad, and while Dr Stokoe admitted her family are bigger soccer fans, she said the Origin game is a "brilliant" spectacle for women's sport.
"It's professional athletes who happen to be women and the fact we got the sold-out State Of Origin match tomorrow, and we had a sold-out Tillies [Matildas] match [in Sydney] earlier in the week, is just fabulous," Dr Stokoe said on Wednesday.
"I'm stoked my daughters are growing up in this environment. It's brilliant. If they can see it, they can be it."
Dr Stokoe was chosen to present the match ball before the game due to her role as head of medical training in the Hunter Retrieval Service that operates as part of the Westpac Helicopter Service.
Westpac are donating $5000 to NSW and Queensland's rescue helicopter services for every try their teams score during the State Of Origin series.
Just like rugby league or soccer, teamwork is essential in the dynamic environment of intensive care outside of hospitals or medical facilities.
Every Westpac Helicopter Service flight boasts a team of a pilot, a critical care paramedic, an emergency medicine doctor and an intensive care nurse.
Treatment has been provided to patients on remote properties, bushland, on highways and even on cruise ships.
"We've got four people who are really at the peak of their game, bringing separate skills that complement each other," Dr Stokoe said. "It's a pretty impressive team to be a part of.
"Depending on what part of the job we're at, will depend on who is in a leadership role."
Dr Stokoe is also an emergency specialist at the John Hunter Hospital and trains other physicians to work in the vital Westpac Helicopter Service.
"The thing air medical services bring, is it decreases the inequality of health because you can bring the critical care to the scene, no matter where the scene is, and you can bring the patients to the major hospitals they need to be at," she said.
"It means no matter where you live in the state you can get the care faster."
Through her work Dr Stokoe comes face-to-face regularly with traumatic situations, which she said can be more confronting outside the hospital setting.
"Certainly there is a whole lot of vicarious trauma that is dealt with by emergency responders," she said.
"I'm trying to feel the emotion just after it happens to see if it's protective, and just to work out when I'm burnt out and to take some time away.
"Talking it out with colleagues has been very useful for me."
