Mr Zuccala's interest in becoming a paramedic ignited during his childhood, where he spent some of his youth providing first aid through St John Ambulance.
At 17, he left school and joined the Geelong and District Ambulance Service as a cadet.
“I am of Italian heritage and, unfortunately, I only lasted six months because I was racially vilified, which was terrible,” Mr Zuccala said.
“After that, I did a few different jobs and ended up working at PANCH hospital, which was one of the major hospitals in Melbourne back in the day.
“One of the surgeons there happened to be on the ambulance service’s board of management, and he used to encourage me to come back to the ambulance service.
“I let a year or so pass, then I saw them advertising for ambulance officers, so I thought I’d have a crack and the rest is history.”
Mr Zuccala joined the Metropolitan Ambulance Service in 1989, starting out at South Melbourne branch, before moving to Preston and Broadmeadows, then to Epping when it first opened in 1992.
In 2004, he completed training to become a Mobile Intensive Care Ambulance (MICA) paramedic before stepping into the Clinical Support Officer (CSO) role at the Alexandra District Ambulance Service.
Soon after, the Metropolitan Ambulance Service, Rural Ambulance Victoria and the Alexandra District Ambulance Service were amalgamated into the current Ambulance Victoria.
“They wanted to appoint a CSO to the new Hume 1 region, so I applied for the position, and I got it - and I ended up in that role for more than 15 years,” Mr Zuccala said.
This role involved travelling around the Hume 1 region to provide clinical support to paramedics and first responders, as well as graduating paramedics and MICA students.
In the following years, Mr Zuccala saw two of his career highlights as being involved in the medical advancement of paramedic practice in Victoria and having recognition on a national level.
In 2014, thrombolysis was being introduced as a treatment to dissolve blood clots in patients in the state.
“Seymour and the Hume 1 area were picked for the pilot of the treatment, so we got to use it before it was broadly implemented,” Mr Zuccala said.
“Myself and my crew did the second thrombolysis treatment in Victoria, which was a big feat.
“They used that case as part of the learning package for thrombolysis treatment, so it was a very memorable job.”
Mr Zuccala was honoured with the Ambulance Services Medal in 2016, which he said was one of the biggest highlights of his career.
He had many thanks to give for the support offered to him throughout his career.
“I want to thank my wife and my children for supporting me and standing by me through it all,” Mr Zuccala said.
“The other people I’d like to particularly thank are the other MICA paramedics at Seymour - we really had each other's backs.
“I lived in Seymour for a long time, and I basically knew everybody.
“Working in the country, you’re a part of a community - you walk down the street and everybody knows you, knows your kids, knows where you live.”
Hume 4 CSO Paul Stefaniak, who worked alongside Mr Zuccala, said it was an honour and privilege to see his career development.
“Guy was a passionate advocate for all his paramedic colleagues and for the improvement of resourcing in his area,” Mr Stefaniak said.
“Guy trained and mentored all levels of staff, from Ambulance Community Officers to Advanced Life Support and MICA paramedics.
“Guy was a consummate professional and an absolute gentleman who was highly respected and loved by all his colleagues.”
