"The Mike Dillon Award for the Far North Region is an all-round award for consistently performing well across all areas," Jon-Grant Ferguson, Officer-in-Charge of the Thursday Island station said.

Mr Ferguson nominated Roseann, better known locally as "Rosie", for the award after the 30-year-old consistently demonstrated a professional maturity and dedication beyond her years.

"Rosie has inspired her peers, friends and professional associates. She has fulfilled her role to the best of her ability and demonstrated the capacity to go beyond and above to ensure her patients come first," he said.

Rosie was unaware of the award until its surprise announcement at a Queensland Ambulance Service event that she was attending in Cairns.

"I didn’t expect it. I was stitched up from here to Cairns," she laughed.

Rosie has worked on many call-outs since starting her job on Thursday Island in February, 2007.

She has delivered a baby in a mid-air during a helicopter transfer from PNG and helped "winch rescue" a crewman from the decks of a Korean tanker.

But Rosie says a most of the work tends to involve patients suffering from chronic and tropical diseases.

"I love the diversity of the work and the people here," she said, "and the fact that we border a third-world country offers so much for me to learn."

Rosie, whose regular home is in Cairns, first came to Thursday Island on holidays about six years ago: "I loved it and I wanted to come back."

She has recently applied for a 12-month extension to her placement on the island.