Kalkadoon woman Lurlene Slater has lived in the rural Queensland mining city of Mount Isa her whole life.
But it wasn't until she joined the Queensland Ambulance Service as a cadet recently that she realised just how dire the state of her people's health was.
"That was what shocked me the most, just how sick our mob are," she said.
In Mount Isa, Indigenous people account for 21 per cent of the rural city's near-19,000 residents, according to the latest census data.
Yet they make up the majority of jobs paramedics are called out to.
"At least 80 to 90 per cent of our jobs are for Indigenous patients," Ms Slater said.
"Indigenous people have the highest rate of health issues across the board whether it's diabetes or cancer. Health is such a concern."
It's what motivated her to sign up to the Queensland Ambulance Service (QAS) in the first place.
Now, as one of two Indigenous cadets in the Mount Isa team, she's helping build bridges between the local healthcare systems and some of the city's most vulnerable First Nations people.
"I think it's great for me as an Indigenous cadet to be able to help fill in the gaps we have with servicing our Indigenous people out here," she said.
Teaching cultural protocols
Ms Slater said teaching her colleagues how to get the best interaction with Indigenous patients could be simple.
"I help with the cultural side of things and teach my colleagues culturally appropriate ways of interacting with our Indigenous community, especially when speaking to elders, asking permission before we touch them to check them, that's really important," she said.
"We have patients who speak language as well. So that's where we can translate from patients to our colleagues, or even the nurse or doctors at the hospital as well.
"We learn from each other, and the other paramedics teach me so much and I really enjoy being able to teach them sometimes as well. So it's a really good environment to be in."
Frazer Brownlie is a level 2 advanced care paramedic.
He worked with the QAS in south-east Queensland before relocating to Mount Isa.
"Health issues that are almost eradicated in south-east Queensland are very prominent here, especially around alcohol and diabetes," he said.
Mr Brownlie said having Indigenous staff in emergency services like the QAS and Queensland Police Service made a huge impact in challenging situations.
"If tensions get high on-scene, having people like Lurlene, or our other Indigenous cadet Caleb there can actually mean the difference between de-escalating a situation or it running out of control, purely because they know the correct ways of interacting with our diverse communities," he said.
"Whereas we might not be as across that as they are. And it is so great having them able to teach us how to better connect with our patients that way."
Sometimes it is as simple as knowing the right words to use when interacting with a patient, Mr Brownlie said.
"Even just teaching us bits and pieces of language that we can use when we're communicating with our Indigenous patients — that makes them feel more comfortable with us," he said.
"There's a massive advantage of using their own words and then all of a sudden, it's a white person making an effort to use their language and connect with them through language and we find we can come across a lot clearer."
Ms Slater said it was crucial to have Aboriginal paramedics to help broaden access and approachability among First Nations communities that relied heavily on local health systems.
"Most of our jobs are with Indigenous people. And when they see me in this uniform jumping out of the ambulance, I think they feel a little bit comfortable, speaking to someone Indigenous, having something familiar around them," she said.
"I think seeing more Indigenous faces at different stations across Queensland, across the country — that's what I'd love to see."
