When most people think of a secretary, they would probably picture a boring, but necessary, nine-to-five office job.
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Try telling that to Shepparton Search and Rescue secretary Nacole Standfield, 30, who mixes administrative work with road crash rescues and is on-call all the time.
“Our first pager went off at 4:45 pm and our crews didn’t walk out of the station until 4 am Sunday,” she said.
“It was a massive night for everyone, including myself — I was here in the office helping another SES member from Numurkah to help prioritise and send people out on jobs.”
But organising the squad to tackle storm damage and road problems is only part of the job for Mrs Standfield.
She said she had attended “countless” fatalities over her six years at Shepparton Search and Rescue.
“There’s no point in counting how many — it’s definitely not the best part of the job but a part of the job is to return that person to their family, and we’re doing our best in those circumstances,” she said.
“Some people think I’m crazy for what I do.”
Mrs Standfield said she felt flat after a major incident such as a body recovery.
“I don’t get depressed or anything, but I feel sorry for the families, sorry for the victim for whatever reason or choices that the person got themselves into the situation,” she said.
“You do feel sorry for the families and the witnesses, they see some things that nobody wants to see.”
In 2017, Mrs Standfield was the first Shepparton Search and Rescue woman recognised with road crash competency alongside her male counterparts.
She said earning that honour felt “amazing”.
“It was such a big man’s world when I joined, and it still is, but we treat everyone equally and women can do exactly the same as what the men can,” she said.
“Just because I’m a female, my gender doesn’t prove or show who I am, my gender has nothing to do with this job — it’s about me as a person and what I can handle and what I can take on for the squad.”
When duty calls for Mrs Standfield, her roles range from overseeing a team of three in administrative roles, to vehicle duty officer, to commander on scene.
And she is constantly challenged by having a lack of information to work with.
“The initial information might only tell you that a person is trapped,” she said.
“That could mean anything — from mechanically trapped when a door is jammed, to physical injuries, crush injuries, and so on.
“So, you’ve got to try and prepare yourself for the worst, because when you get there and it’s not the worst-case scenario, it’s easier to go through the processes to deal with it.
“You’ve got to try and push your personality aside and see it as a job.
“We’re here for the community and to help those people that need our help.”
Mrs Standfield’s father, Wayne Reither, also works for Shepparton Search and Rescue, and he persuaded her to become a volunteer.
In addition to her dad, there were plenty of squad members Mrs Standfield saw as role models, including 46-year member Stan Jezewski, Mick D’Elia, Jamie Fawcett and Ross Wilkinson.
She said to this day it was still “fantastic” to watch other seasoned heads in the squad go about their business so fluently.
When Mrs Standfield is not working, she is a full-time stay-at-home mother of two children, aged 5 and 3, which she said kept her busy.
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