Paramedic, author and QUT law student Amy Gomes has been named the 2026 QUT Outstanding Young Alumnus for her contributions to health education, community cardiac arrest response and improving access to lifesaving defibrillators.
The honour was announced at the annual QUT Outstanding Alumni Awards last night (October 29) at the university's Gardens Point campus in Brisbane.
Ms Gomes is a critical care paramedic, children’s books author and community advocate dedicated to improving health outcomes through frontline care, education and philanthropy.
She graduated from QUT in 2010 with a Bachelor of Health Science (Paramedic) and remains connected to the university as a Clinical Fellow in Paramedic Science and a current law student.
In 2014, she founded One Little Heart, a charitable initiative that has raised tens of thousands of dollars and funded automated external defibrillators (AEDs) for communities without local ambulance services.
"As high as 60 per cent of people will survive with early defibrillation and bystander CPR," she said.
"It can really be the difference between survival with no neurological deficit and survival with a lot of impact, which obviously impacts a person and their family."
Ms Gomes is also the author of What Paramedics Do and co-author of What Little Heroes Do, children's books that help young people understand emergency services, reduce medical anxiety and learn lifesaving first aid skills.
"Kids are super responsive to help in times of crisis. We actually don't give them enough credit," she said.
"If we teach them early, that's just natural for them.”
Ms Gomes said it meant a lot to her to be recognised as an outstanding QUT alumnus.
"I think it's a fantastic opportunity to broadcast the things that really mean something to me and the whole point of my ‘why’ – which is education for kids about first aid, teaching people about first aid cardiac arrest response, and public access AEDs,” she said.
Ms Gomes said her desire to work in healthcare was shaped by a lifelong drive to help others and by her own experience as a child spending time in communities impacted by poverty in South America.
"I knew that I wanted to do something in healthcare and I've always had a really deep drive to help others," she said.
"It really opened my eyes to the privilege I have and I wanted to give back to other people in any way I could.
"And paramedicine absolutely has brought that for me in droves."
Ms Gomes said one her most memorable donations through One Little Heart was an AED for Aratula State School.
“It really is a potentially lifesaving device for that whole community," she said.
Reflecting on her return to QUT as a mature-age law student, Ms Gomes said the experience had been both rewarding and inspiring.
"I think what's really heartening is spending time with 18-year-olds," she said.
"I think it's been really refreshing to see how remarkable these students are.
"It's really just been a lovely experience to meet new people outside of my career and share a common passion for law and how we can change society with the learnings we have here."
Ms Gomes said she would encourage today’s students to embrace setbacks as well as successes.
"One of the things I'd say to current students is probably not just to savour the positive opportunities, but to appreciate the rejection and the times when it doesn't go so well," she said.
"Those moments have built my resilience and also shaped how I tackle different problems now.”
Media contact: QUT Media, media@qut.edu.au
