AMBULANCE OFFICERS ’ (AUSTRALIA) OFFICIAL MAGAZINE

The idea for a magazine published for ambulance officers by ambulance officers came from two forward thinking ‘ambos ’ in country Victoria, about the same time as the Institute was formed. The Victoria Division – at the time, arguably the most progressive (some would say aggressive) branch of the Institute (we held our inaugural meeting four months before the public launch of the Institute), assembled influential medical support for the project and provided seed funding to assist in the publication costs. The Institute became the vehicle to push the magazine out around the nation, but it took a lot of pushing by a few people to keep the momentum up. Parochialism, a problem on an intra-state scale, was even worse when it came to inter-state endeavours. Acceptance came slowly and it took almost four years before all Divisions fully backed the venture. Divisions bickered about the advertising and articles that did not reflect their particular modis operandi, at the same time as they were reluctant to ‘dip their toe in the water ’ and provide material to publish. Response, despite many detractors and publication problems from time to time, is still here afte