User:Barry J Gobbe/sandbox

Barry J Gobbe OAM JP
1st NSW Ambulance Metropolitan Regional Training Officer
In office 21 July 1975 – 26 January 2001
Personal details
Born	(1947-08-16) 16 August 1947 Sydney, New South Wales
Alma mater	Swinburne University

Barry James Gobbe OAM JP (born 16 August 1947) was Intensive Care Paramedic Station Officer II educator of the New South Wales Ambulance service in New South Wales, Australia from 1975 until 2001.

Personal life

Born in Sydney Crown Street, Barry grew up in the Sydney suburb of Mascot, New South Wales as a child in the 1950s. He only attained year eight education at the first co-educational school in NSW JJ Cahill High School, Mascot. He went on in later life accomplishing university qualifications. Married at an early age in 1969 to the teenage love of his life Karen Anne they later became parents of Darrin James. However, in 1979 he would divorce remarry and divorce again turning his life to one of full time study.

Career

Barry left school with minimal education as he was promised an apprenticeship in the printing trade. He would work many hours leading up to and through the Christmas break doing all the dirty medial tasked which required hard labour in meeting the demands of the company before breaking for Christmas in 1962. Barry was then given his retrenchment notice as a Christmas present and now uneducated he moved on to sell bicycles & parts with Bennett & Wood who later became Bennett Honda and in the window of the shop where he worked for near a year was the first Honda Step-through Motor Cycle. His father always said, "get a trade behind you and then you can do anything you wish". Great advice as Barry became a Refrigeration Mechanic graduating as an Air-conditioning Engineer working on large buildings and even the installation of the Sydney Opera House Air-conditioning. Opera House

In 1975 he joined the ambulance service and was first posted in Parramatta. Barry then served more than 27 years in Sydney mostly in the Western Suburbs. In the late 80's he was appointed as the first Metropolitan Regional Training Officer of the Sydney Region and also at the headquarters education centre New South Wales Ambulance Academy in Bankstown & Rozelle. During his early career and only 18 months in the ambulance service, he would be the first despatched and to arrive at the scene of the worst rail disaster in Australian post war history, the Granville Rail/train Disaster of 1977. Some 30 years later he would venture into writing a book, 'Revisiting the Granville Train Disaster of 1977'. It would be here, he would uncover the truth about the real cause of the disaster and the cover-up portrayed by the then NSW State Government. After listening to the many families' stories and the heartache and suffering they went through, he approached the NSW State Premier Gladys Berijiklian and in May 2017 the State Parliament made a formal apology to all those concerned over the way in which they were treated by the then Wran Government in 1977.

Qualifications

Barry Gobbe's qualifications include a Forensic Criminology Degree Swinburn Universityand a Diploma in Health Management and a Cert. IV Worplace Assessment & Training. Certificates in Workplace RBT & RDT Screening.

He also graduated and holds a private pilots licence on fixed wing single-engine aircraft.

Honours and awards

St.John Service Ribbon

National Service Ribbon

Long service & Good Behaviour Ribbon

Member of the Order of Australia (OAM)

June 2017, "Service includes: Intensive Care Paramedic/educator, New South Wales Ambulance Service, 1975-2001; One of the 1st responders to the Granville Train Disaster, 1977. Volunteer Fire Fighter, New South Wales Fire Brigade (now Fire and Rescue NSW), 1984-1988. Guest Lecturer, Bachelor of Paramedicine, University of Western Sydney, since 2015. Co-Founder, Secretary and Treasurer, Western Sydney Homeless Connect, since 2013. New South Wales Representative, Swags for the Homeless, since 2010. Co-Founder, Blue House, Juvenile and Homeless Refuge, Parramatta, 2014-2015. Historian and Author, 'The Granville Train Disaster: 35 years of Memories' (2011); and 'Revisiting the Granville Train Disaster of 1977', (2014 and 2nd edition, 2015). Justice of the Peace and Independent Support Person, Parramatta Police Local Area Command, since 1994. Creator, 'Slap Happy The Clown' (performer for children in hospitals), 1996-2006. Principal, Barry James and Associates, Drug and Alcohol Services, since 2001. Chairman, Granville Train Disaster Association Inc., 2017.

Retirement

Barry was forced to retire on medical grounds following being assaulted whilst on duty in Blacktown. He obtained a light duties position with a private Ambulance Service and continued teaching and running their emergency response and treatment department. During this time he obtained a new skill in Drug & Alcohol Screening and on leaving this employment started his own sole trader business as Barry James & Associates. and Swags for Homeless <ref>https://www.swags.org.au/about-us<ref> supplying free of charge a backpack bed for those in need of emergency shelter. This led to him receiving the United Nations 2011 National Volunteer award for Emergency Management within his district. Barry has also documented the real true facts and stories of the 1977 Granville Train Disaster <ref>http://www.thedayoftheroses.com.au<ref>. Since 1993 Barry has volunteered his service to support Juveniles in Custody at the Parramatta, Castle Hill and the Cumberland Local Area Commands and received to commendations for his service by the Police Force of New South Wales. After dealing with persons of all ages in custody, including murderers, those with mental Illness and substance abusers, Barry decided to study more on these persons and at the age of 67 decided it was time to study for a degree in Social Science majoring in Criminology. Barry now assists in cold cases, locating missing persons, domestic violence and custody cases as well as keeping his skills up with his Drug & Alcohol screening business which services industry and aviation.

References

 3. https://www.wshc.com.au/home-1
 4. https://www.swags.org.au/about-us
 5. http://www.thedayoftheroses.com.au

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