Oz/NZ Paramedic Forums

[aussiephil]

I'm writing up a summary of my education/work experience/scope of practice. Do you guys know of places that are *actively* recruiting international applicants and have had good experiences recruiting those types?

www.ambulance.nsw.gov.au

There is an international section there.

[Kiwiology]

Not to sound negative but the reaility is St John is a charity only partly funded by the Government, so, recruits within the confines of budgetary constraints and operational needs (the latter outweighs the first by a considerable degree). All the current vacancies can be found at www.stjohn.org.nz/jobs

If you see "Paramedic" it means ILS, if you see "Advanced Paramedic" it means ALS, "Ambulance Officer" means BLS (within St John) for Wellington Free the term "Paramedic" means BLS or ILS and "Intensive Care Paramedic" means ALS.

You also need to go through Ambulance NZ (I'm not sure what thier official role is but I believe they are the industry lobby group, not that they lobby very hard) to have your qualifications appriased; this ain't cheap.

Check out http://www.stjohn.co.nz/jobs/international.aspx

[Fox800]

Well guys, I'm getting my paperwork together for the Ambulance Service of New South Wales. They seem to be the most accommodating towards international applicants. I'm really interested in Queensland but I don't meet the three-year requirement for a sponsored permanent residency visa. With ASNWS I can apply for a sponsored temporary visa which is good for four years and then reapply for permanent residency (and citizenship at the five year mark). I'm just waiting for my certified driving record to come in and then I'll be mailing off my paperwork! I plan on visiting Australia at the end of the year/beginning of next year on holiday and to interview. While I love New Zealand, I think that the opportunities for career advancement are better in the land of Oz, not to mention the salaries are quite a bit higher. With my qualifications here I anticipate being offered an ICP position if my application process is successful (just looking at their scopes of practice). Wish me luck.

[Kiwiology]

Good luck mate

[Fox800]

Thanks. I hope my US EMS education won't be an issue compared to the Australia/NZ/UK model. I know you guys like your BSc degrees. Hopefully it won't be a problem.

Anyone have the exact details for paramedic vs. ICP as far as scope of practice goes?

Edited August 13, 2009 by Fox800

[Kiwiology]

The degree is only a phenomina of the last decade. Up until then, all EMS education in Australia was in-service technical/vocational style; I believe New South Wales is the only state which still trains some of thier Paramedics this way. Every other state now only hires graduates or in the case of WA, they hire ab-initio and put you on the degree.

In New Zealand the degree is far less accepted; the vocational model of education is still used for all levels except Advanced Paramedic (ALS) which is a by-product of our massive (70%) reliance upon volunteer officers; can't have a volunteer spend three years doing a degree now can you? Even for those who get the degree it's an uncertian future within St John at least. Wellington Free is more accepting of the degree from what I understand which is good.

Now, as for you, I can't comment upon Australia specifically but I've seen some pretty shady programs come out of US (16 week Paramedic courses and the like) so anecdotially it may not be in your favour if you've got a bare bones six month tech school cert.

[Fox800]

I submitted my paperwork to ASNSW yesterday. We'll see what happens. Fingers are crossed.

[oz_paramedic_chick]

First of all sorry i've been off these forums for a couple of months. I am currently a 2nd Year student undertaking the Bachelor of Paramedic Science on QLD's Sunshine Coast. The hope is that in approx. 14 months time I will be qualified and employed by QAS. QAS and ASNSW are the only 2 services left in Australia where you don't have to be degree qualified, however, I know here in QLD you have to be degree qualified to become an ICP. I don't really know of any American paramedics over here, however, I know of a couple of Canadian paramedics who have been forced to start at a lower level and complete some assessments before they were granted advanced care paramedic level. Sorry i'm not sure what level they were back home. Here in QLD some protocols that ICPs have that ACPs don't include:

*IV Salbutamol, amiodarone, tenectaplase, heparin, haloperidol, benztropine, atropine, clopidogrel, frusemide, ketamine, promethazine, sodium bic, hydrocortisone. Drug Therapy Protocols (DTPs): http://www.ambulance.qld.gov.au/Medical/dtp.asp

*chest decompression, IO, cardioversion, transcutaneous pacing, ET intubation, ETCO2 monitoring

That's definitely not all skills they have that ACPs don't but just a few off the top of my head. All the best with ASNSW, hope you get the chance to live your dream.

[krumel]

As I'm thinking about moving to NZ or Australia myself a question to you folks out there:

Did anyone ever hear of an Medic from one of the german speaking countries moving sucessfuly to NZ or Australia?

I'm asking cause I'm currently reading in a lot of forums and found some (old) posts of Germans wheren't accepted...But I'm not sure if this is "up-to-date" and true....

Would be glad if anyone heared something.

Thanks, folks,

Phil

[overseasbound]

To revive an old post: Yes, I do know of some German speaking paramedics who made it to Oz and NZ.

Fox800, how did you go?