Today is Thank a First Responder Day and in what has been a challenging year, our first responders continue to keep the public safe, day in and day out, so we take this opportunity to say a big thank you.

In the Douglas Shire, we have a number of highly skilled and dedicated first responders who often work together to get the job done.

Mark Pollard, Captain of the Port Douglas Fire and Rescue Station, has been working in Port Douglas for four years and said his team works very closely with the local Queensland Ambulance Service, Queensland Police Service, and the SES.

“It's a fantastic community, everyone comes together when we need to,” he said.

“There's always challenges no matter where you are, we are a little bit isolated up here, but we all work together as a team and overcome any challenges we have.

“My favourite part of the job is going out and helping the community. So we get big weather events and things like that, so getting out to help people with whatever is needed.”

Port Douglas Station Officer-in-Charge, Sergeant Damian Meadows, has been working at the Port Douglas station for 15 years and said there is a fantastic working relationship between the local emergency services.

“Each individual service has their own set of skills and when they have those big jobs we really rely on the skill set that our other emergency services possess to get the job done,” he said.

“The community is very lucky to have such dedicated emergency services here in Douglas Shire.

Geoff Nash, Critical Care Paramedic in Port Douglas said working in a small community is a privilege.

“It's great to be able to help our community,” he said.

Mr Nash added that the public can do their part by learning First Aid in the event that they may need to administer it before help arrives.

“ I can't stress that highly enough, doing First Aid courses and learning the basics is the most important thing everyone can do.”

Show your appreciation for our first responders in the comments below.