Just Doing My Job: Cops, firies, ambos. Everyday Australians with extraordinary stories.

Imagine what it must be like to attend a fatal accident in which you know the victim; or to pull a baby out of a fire who is dressed in the same style of pyjamas that your child wears; or to have to knock on a stranger’s door and tell a wife that her husband has been murdered, while in the background, her children are preparing for a slumber party. You may be called on to deliver a child or to help a family cope with the disappearance of a beloved son. At other times a day at work may find you chasing a naked man through a five-star resort; being escorted through a seedy establishment by a six-foot-four transvestite; or assisting a drunken woman who has somehow fallen into a shopping trolley and become stuck. Every day there is a possibility of being shot at, spat at, punched, verbally abused, or hugged and cheered ... The diversity of situations and emotions is surely as great as any person in any line of work ever experiences.

JUST DOING MY JOB tells the stories of the unsung heroes of our emergency services. Those who are just doing their job, protecting us, saving us, serving us. Most of us see nothing more than the uniform. These are snapshots of lives and events that will give the reader a better understanding of the men and women behind the uniform.