Twenty-four others are studying their way through four-year programs. Mr Simpson is the first of three Indigenous paramedics to be trained in south-east Queensland. He said his Indigenous background is very important but "not always helpful". "At times it can be (helpful) ... Not always," he said with a gentle laugh. "But to have the same people as treating officers does help.

"It does help to calm some people. "And understand the difference that people have in their tribes. "Just understanding some of their traditions can really be helpful to their treatment and really help their recovery." Mr Simpson sees himself as a future paramedic, once his training is finished. He has finished his first-year paramedics study and received his first white stripe from Queensland Ambulance Service acting commissioner Craig Emery.

He was recently working as a case manager in drug and alcohol counselling for 10 years in Sydney's Kings Cross. Mr Simpson moved back to Camira to be close to his family and decided to become a paramedic. The Indigenous link is important to him and part of the reason for his change of emphasis in helping people. "My people were stolen people. So part of me looks back on that and how we were treated," he said. "So it does have significance to me to see how far we have come."

He understands his new role. "Just being able to get all the facts on a person and being able to advocate on their behalf," he said. "Just being able to present the best story to the triage nurse on behalf of this person, that's important." Some of the recruits go through the full four-year combined TAFE and university course, others gradually step through different levels to become liaison workers, then cultural health advisors. Trish Murray, Queensland Ambulance Service's clinical educator for the Indigenous paramedics program, said the organisation always believed Indigenous Queenslanders had a better role to play in the health of their communities.

"We believed it could be more than just a role in dialling 000," Ms Murray said. Originally Indigenous Australians provided a liaison role in remote communities for ambulance workers. "We quickly realised those workers could do more than provide an 'attendant' role and we decided to put them on a education pathway to become paramedics," she said. "And that way they can go back into their communities and improve the gap between indigenous and non-Indigenous communities." They provide a door into Indigenous health problems that non-Indigenous people might never see, Ms Murray said.

"They help us become culturally respective and also how to manage people living in those communities," she said. "They help us become part of the community and to get an idea of what it is like to live and work in these communities."