Overseas EMS/Fire employment??? Any help?

polarbear

polarbear

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My wife and I are looking for job opportunities overseas in EMS or Fire. I am looking for a company that we can both be deployed together and am looking for 1 year contracts with the option to extend additional years. I have no problem going to places like Iraq or Afghanistan, but would prefer Kuwait or even other regions of the world.

My wife and I are both state certified EMT-I's, nationally registered EMT-B's (and can take our NR EMT-I test if needed). We both have our FF I & II, driver operator, and are HazMat Ops level. We both are scheduled to take an aircraft firefighting class, and will be finished with our RT-VMR certification soon.

If anyone has any information about opportunities, places to look into or avoid, or anything else that may be helpful please let me know. Feel free to post a reply or send it via PM.

If we are able to go over, I will be happy to take pictures and post them for everyone’s enjoyment.

Thanks in advance,
Joe
 
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eggshen

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Good luck, I have been trying for that sort of thing for a while now and the pickings are rather slim unless you are looking at Blackwater (my wife said no) .

Egg
 
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akflightmedic

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I have been working overseas for many years and can point you in whatever direction you need.

Working EMS is a no go as most overseas contracts are for medics only. There are outfits that hire less than medic, but those are your shooter/medic organizations that require military/tactical experience and you are a shooter first, medic second.

If you got one of these positions, you would NOT be deployed together and odds are your wife would not even be hired.

There are plenty of opportunities for you in the fire realm. Wackenhut/WSI is all over Iraq as the primary fire response. You are already qualified for them with your training, provided you can document 3 years experience either vollie or paid, they do not care. They are short right now and will have you guys snatched up in no time. If you are interested, I highly recommend firehouse.com and look at the subheadiing "Americans Overseas". All your questions are answered there.

Pay for WSI starts at 90K a year but they do work OT as well. I will answer questions here as well if you have any or choose not to go to the site where I directed you.

There are other outfits that do overseas fire contracts and they are all llisted in that same thread on that site. None of them pay very well, but $$ may not be your only motivator. The difficulty you will encounter is both of you going together. With WSI, it will be possible. With the others, not so much.

I see you are taking your ARFF. That is a HUGE bonus for you. KBR does the fire response in Afghanistan and you have to be ARFF certified. They are short of firefighters as well right now and it would be very easy for you guys to get hired together. They may send you to seperate bases but you can come over together, make same money and vacation same time.

If you want adventure, there are fire contracts in Saudi Arabia, Marshall Islands, Kwajalan, and Antarctica. Again, deployment with the wife is an issue on most of these. Your best bet at staying together or having same schedule is to do WSI in Iraq or KBR in Afghanistan.

Here is a list of remote employers:

http://www.winterharbor.net/offshore.html

It is easy to get hired overseas, you just have to know who and where to ask.

I myself am now in my 18th month working in Afghanistan, I did a year in the Philippines, 2 years in the arctic, and many more years on the ground in various states and doing disaster relief response.


Eggshen, pickings aint that slim. If you are serious, get with me. I can get you on in several different places pretty damn quick.
 
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polarbear

polarbear

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akflightmedic said:
You are already qualified for them with your training, provided you can document 3 years experience either vollie or paid, they do not care.
Click to expand...

Is the experience time a "make or break" requirement? I have more than enough experience, however my Wife is a little short of 3 years. Should we wait and apply in about 6-8 months when she has her 3 years?
 
akflightmedic

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I know the rule was 3 years at one point but I could be mistaken on that requirement. It may be 2 years for all I know. The thread on the other site as I said has over 1000 posts with everything you need to know.

Will take several hours of reading but everything is there.

Now, I am no boyscout, meaning if your wife is that close to having 3 years experience, a little creative date placement may be warranted. They do count explorer years as well...truth be told, they need bodies with certs. You will get your training there when you hit the ground.
 
sandboxmedic

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Heres the facts on working overseas: DO NOT GO OR ENTERTAIN THE THOUGHT UNLESS YOU HAVE DONE THESE THINGS:
-Astringent research on the company your looking at.
-are at least an EMT-I, NREMT-P, or 18 Delta (Special Forces Medic) with at least 5 years experience in a busy environment, Iraq-Trashcanistan or the Middle East are not places for "backwoods medics" that run 3 calls a year.
Note: Even if you have a MIL background, realize your gonnna have ALL AGES/ALL TYPES OF PATIENTS....brush up on your ACLS, PALS....Standard medicine, its not all Trauma.

-You should be Physically Fit !!!!!! (note: If people die trying to save YOU because your to fat to run and dont listen to instructions well, or have a Para-GOD complex your gonna be having a very bad day!) Especially if its me coming to you......

The fire side of it, i dont have any info on kuwait, except that an american woman there runs a high risk of being kidnapped and sold on the black market ( note: that means dont bring your wife) its a harsh reality folks, check the Dept of State travel guidelines.

http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis_pa_tw_1168.html

on another note:
Even in downtown "Baghdaddy's" the fire service runs with regular trucks (too much red/chrome lights, Federal blaring, and assorted nonsense) to respond to things. That makes YOU a Screaming fun target for Snipers, * Hint Hint* and those trucks have NO armor. A 7.62 standard AK round will clean that truck through and through.

BE CAREFUL WITH (KBR-or Wackenhut) Things arent always as they seem.

Things to Consider:
-Life insurance
-contracting longer than a year, ( incorporate yourself, "S-Corp", talk to an accountant well versed in international tax law !!!!) again, BE Astringent!! in your choices. this is good for gear, expenses, loopholes and some tax breaks ,otherwise Uncle Sam is taking 20% right off the top, and he'll come back for more, TRUST ME on this.
-Shooter/Medic positions are EXACTLY that, your a medic only after the firefight stops or youve killed all else, look up T.C.C.C. (Tactical Combat Casualty Care). Taking a 1 weeks course in CQB does not make you qualified for this position!
-Start learning the language if you plan to go,just the basics is a good start.

Good Luck and a Safe Return !
 
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