{"id":30296,"date":"2026-07-20T11:14:47","date_gmt":"2026-07-20T03:14:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/friends\/?p=30296"},"modified":"2026-07-20T11:17:02","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T03:17:02","slug":"saving-those-who-save-lives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/friends\/saving-those-who-save-lives\/","title":{"rendered":"Saving those who save lives"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

For Curtin paramedicine graduate Karen Hollings, becoming a paramedic wasn’t part of the plan. Neither was founding a charity that’s changing the lives of first responders.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like many, Karen’s path to success wasn’t linear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At just 29, she became a single mother following the breakdown of her marriage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I was on a single-parent pension, and I wasn’t happy in that space,” Karen said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I desperately wanted to give back to the community that was supporting me.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While working at a party shop to make ends meet, Karen began studying to become a paramedic with St John WA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I remember studying while doing balloon orders. My notes were stuck all over the walls in the back of the shop,” she said.<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Qualifying as a paramedic marked more than the beginning of a career it transformed her family’s future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The first thing I bought with my first pay cheque was private health insurance for my girls,” Karen said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Becoming a paramedic allowed me to give my daughters opportunities I never imagined possible as a single mum.”<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

“I wanted to show them that anything is possible.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"curtin
When Karen became a qualified paramedic, she was able to give her daughters opportunities she had never imagined possible.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

For more than a decade, Karen witnessed both the best and worst of humanity on the front line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then, in 2014, her own life changed in an instant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While on shift, she was violently assaulted in the back of an ambulance by a patient affected by drugs and alcohol.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I remember my body slamming against the wall inside of the ambulance,” she said.<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

“He was sitting on me with his legs locked against the metal frame of the stretcher, and I could feel this intense pressure on the left side of my back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“In that moment, I genuinely thought my ribs were going to break.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although Karen escaped the immediate danger, the impact of the assault remained long after the physical injuries healed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"curtin
Karen’s recovery from the assault lasted long after her physical injuries had healed.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Her recovery spanned years and included three surgeries with extensive rehabilitation to her right wrist and, eventually, a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“At the time, I just thought what I was experiencing was normal,” she said.<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

“But when I returned to work, some concerned colleagues noticed something had changed and I was guided to seek help.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With support from her doctor and a life coach, Karen began to heal. It was during this time that she discovered the profound impact therapy dogs could have on mental health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"curtin
Karen with her therapy dog, Olav.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

“When I was consumed by all these horrible thoughts, one of the few moments of happiness I felt was visiting my GP clinic to spend time with Olav, the therapy dog,” she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“In those moments, I felt safe enough to accept what I was going through, talk about it and simply be.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

That simple but powerful observation inspired a much bigger idea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Almost a decade after the assault, Karen founded Dogs for First Responders<\/a>, a charity providing frontline mental health support through trained therapy dogs and experienced first responders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Six-year-old golden retriever Angus became the program’s first therapy dog.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"curtin
Karen with a young Angus.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Since then, Karen has recruited four additional therapy dogs and their handlers, each with at least 15 years’ experience as a first responder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Because we’re mobile, we can meet first responders where they are, while they’re on shift, and assist in the prevention of mental health decline, compassion fatigue, burnout, self-harm, suicide and PTSD,” Karen said.<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

“Our goal is to bridge the gap between First Responders doing their job and seeking support.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With rates of PTSD among emergency service workers continuing to rise, Karen believes peer-led support is more important than ever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"st
St John’s WA paramedics with a therapy dog.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

“The first responder world is unique because we put enormous pressure on ourselves to be OK,” she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Having lived that experience makes it easier to connect. They know I understand, often without many words being spoken.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\"curtin
With rates of PTSD among emergency service workers continuing to rise, Karen believes peer-led support is necessary.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Throughout the challenges of raising two daughters while building a career, karate has become Karen’s constant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now a sensei, she credits the discipline with helping build the resilience that has carried her through life’s toughest moments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I truly believe my resilience as a paramedic is connected to my karate practice,” she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“My advice is to build a fulfilling life outside of work. If all your identity is tied to one thing and you lose it, you risk losing yourself too\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“And above all, approach life with kindness. You can collect trophies, medals, accolades and titles but they should never define who you are.”<\/p>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For Curtin paramedicine graduate Karen Hollings, becoming a paramedic wasn’t part of the plan. Neither […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":162,"featured_media":30256,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"_oasis_task_priority":"","wds_primary_category":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[710],"tags":[724],"class_list":["post-30296","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-life-after-curtin","tag-life-advice"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/friends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30296","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/friends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/friends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/friends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/162"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/friends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30296"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/friends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30296\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30298,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/friends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30296\/revisions\/30298"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/friends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30256"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/friends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30296"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/friends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30296"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/friends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30296"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}