For Dubbo firefighter Josh Loxley it was the worst day of his life. For the highly trained paramedics who administrated the live-saving Tenecteplase that stopped a blood clot forming in his heart, administrated nine minutes of CPR and stopped his cardiac arrest via multiple jolts of the defibrillator, it was a typical Tuesday.

“What they did for me, it’s just amazing – doctors told me ‘Had you not had the attention from the paramedics, you would not have survived’. That simple,” Mr Loxley, 44, said.

“Where else do you get that type of service – that’s the worst day of my life and there’s this team surrounding me, doing everything they possible can, to make sure I live.”

The firefighter, who has a family history of heart disease, went for a routine stress test in July 2022 when things went horribly wrong.

“It felt like someone had their knee in the middle of my back and was just driving it in… I thought ‘I’m in deep trouble’.”

NSW paramedics Jason Moffitt, Sofie Weston, Scott Ferrari and Jane Ryan were dispatched to the scene and immediately began working on Mr Loxley as they rushed him to Orange Base Hospital.

They quickly discovered the firey had a potentially lethal blood clot and acted – administrating Tenecteplase.

The high-risk life-saving medication is administrated to trigger thrombolysis in the patient and break down heart-blocking clots.

Complicating things further, Mr Loxley then went into cardiac arrest.

“I recall someone saying, ‘his heart is about to stop’ and I just don’t remember anything else until I woke up and Jason is on me, pounding on me,” he said.

After eight and a half minutes of CPR and Mr Loxley reached hospital for further treatment.

His brush with death and the subsequent lifesaving care – including the timely removal of the blood clot – means Mr Loxley is the latest voice calling for professional recognition for paramedics.

“And that’s just a typical Tuesday for them, the training they have to do and re-do each year is astonishing – and then to find out they don’t get paid enough, as much as other states.

“Crazy. They should be paid the highest in the country!”

HSU Paramedics are seeing the culmination of a massive multi-year campaign for professional recognition, standing up to the state government to keep their election promises.

With an unprecedented high-profile campaign that engaged with the media and the community, they successfully dragged the government back to the table.

Meanwhile, Mr Loxley continues to recover and is expected to be back on the job shortly.

“It’s just amazing, as a firey I’ve watched them (paramedics) work before, but never like this, I’ve never been in the back of the ambulance,” he said.

“Every time I see them and talk to them – it’s ‘Oh I got more training this week’ - most people don’t realise that. What they did, how they do it, it’s amazing!”