# Traveling as an EMT and wilderness medicine, lots of questions



## Dragearen (Jun 25, 2015)

Hi all, I'm an American university student (studying Psychology) currently in Europe and I've been looking at becoming an EMT and eventually perhaps a paramedic. I am currently a WFR (Wilderness First Responder), though I've never worked in the field, and I absolutely loved the training which makes me think I may want to do more, especially in the field of wilderness medicine.

My question is, how would I go about doing this in a way that I can travel and work as an EMT/paramedic? I have a huge passion for travel and after I graduate from university I plan to move around quite a lot, but I understand there may be some difficulties with doing that as an EMT.

How do certifications transfer across borders? If I get certified in, say, Germany, or the UK, will it transfer if I wanted to work in a country like Turkey? What might this look like?

What about the language barrier? If working internationally, is it possible/easy to find jobs as an English speaker where you may not speak the local language?

Are there many jobs available for international EMTs? What about wilderness medicine jobs, such as S&R or scientific expeditions?

One thing which got me interested in pursuing emergency medicine was disasters. Does anyone work in the field of disaster medicine? Are there opportunities for EMTs to work on things like the Nepal earthquake?

Sorry for all the questions, and thank you if you take the time to respond.


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## Carlos Danger (Jun 25, 2015)

There are others on this forum who can answer your specific questions much better than I, and hopefully someone will.

But...you sound pretty smart and very motivated. So why not go to school for a few years longer to become a physician? You could still work in your area of interest and have lots of opportunities for travel.


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## joshrunkle35 (Jun 25, 2015)

In the U.S., EMTs work under a physician. For an EMS agency, this is in the form of having a doctor oversee the medical aspect of the agency, and write down what that doctor wants done in advance. They can't just work on their own. Laws are different all over the world. Presumably, you would need to get relicensed in each country, perform some sort of examination or meet a requirement and pay a fee in order to get licensed/certified. 

It would, most likely, be 100 times easier to work at McDonalds in a foreign country (even with tax and banking issues), and doing that would probably pay twice as much. Teaching English is an excellent way to make money as you travel. Typically you only need a bachelor's degree and a TEFL certificate to do that, and you can come and go as you please and the money's decent (compared to whatever economy you are in). There's a better likelyhood of doing this outside of Western Europe, though.


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## Dragearen (Jun 25, 2015)

Remi said:


> There are others on this forum who can answer your specific questions much better than I, and hopefully someone will.
> 
> But...you sound pretty smart and very motivated. So why not go to school for a few years longer to become a physician? You could still work in your area of interest and have lots of opportunities for travel.



I have a few concerns with going to med school.  One of them is simply that I don't want to be in school that long.  I have an overwhelming itch to travel, and my feeling is that it is best to do that while I am young and not as tied down or caught up in life.  Another is, well, I know I enjoyed my WFR training and I have an interest, but what if it just doesn't turn out to be what I really want to do?  Then I have wasted 6 years of my life pursuing an education I don't enjoy, and med school is not known for being easy.



joshrunkle35 said:


> In the U.S., EMTs work under a physician. For an EMS agency, this is in the form of having a doctor oversee the medical aspect of the agency, and write down what that doctor wants done in advance. They can't just work on their own. Laws are different all over the world. Presumably, you would need to get relicensed in each country, perform some sort of examination or meet a requirement and pay a fee in order to get licensed/certified.
> 
> It would, most likely, be 100 times easier to work at McDonalds in a foreign country (even with tax and banking issues), and doing that would probably pay twice as much. Teaching English is an excellent way to make money as you travel. Typically you only need a bachelor's degree and a TEFL certificate to do that, and you can come and go as you please and the money's decent (compared to whatever economy you are in). There's a better likelyhood of doing this outside of Western Europe, though.



I see.  It sounds like it is pretty difficult to transfer any kind of certification across borders.  I have thought about teaching English, actually.  Aren't there contracting opportunities for paramedics though?


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## joshrunkle35 (Jun 25, 2015)

Dragearen said:


> I see.  It sounds like it is pretty difficult to transfer any kind of certification across borders.  I have thought about teaching English, actually.  Aren't there contracting opportunities for paramedics though?



Absolutely. Most of them will require 2-5 years experience in a busy EMS system or an ER. A good portion of them require a college degree. There are obviously exceptions to any rule, however, my advice is generic.


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## Pond Life (Jul 5, 2015)

I think you need to consider if you would be able to get a work visa for working in Europe first. 
Once that is done then you need to consider what languages you a fluent in - no point working in Germany of you don't speak German
If then you are limited to English then your work prospects lay within England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
None of these would offer a job in wilderness medicine for an EMT. 
There are organisations such as Mountain Rescue Units in Snowdonia (North Wales) and The Highlands of Scotland but they take on volunteers only.If you are interested in this then Google the Mouthing Rescue Units for these areas. may also e worthwhile going onto the Plas-y-Brenin web site for some basic mountain leadership, survival and mountain first aid training. http://www.pyb.co.uk
If you are after projects overseas I think your best place to receive training is ExMed (UK) Ltd. http://exmed.co.uk the are an extremely good training facility and also offer opportunities to work overseas. Albeit in Hostile areas. Their MIRA courses are very good.
The other option you have is to contact some of the big NGOs such as the British Red Cross and see if you can make inroads through them. I don't know what they're like but presume they would need you to have decent qualifications before taking you on.
Good Luck


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## Matzinger (Jul 11, 2015)

Hi,
I'm an EMT in Austria and some time ago i was also looking for opportunities to work in other countries, because i've the same passion for travelling as you have. unfortunately it's very difficult in Europe to do the work of an EMT in different countries because every country has it own standards in their EMS System. Depending in which country you have your basic training you may go to another country which has a similar system. For example: if you get your EMT in Germany you may also work in Austria, but you can't also automatically work in Great Britain, 'cause they don't accept your certificates made in Germany. As I've heard from former workmates you will have the best chances, if you've an education based on the anglo-american standards. But from my experience, I want to tell you: it is extremely difficult to work as an EMT without speaking the local language fluently. I know that if working in the middle east, you'll have a translator by your side, but I wouldn't rely on that in other regions of the world.

I don't know how old you are and about your background, but if you have the opportunity to become a physician I'd go this way!!

Cheers
Matthew


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## Amelia (Jul 11, 2015)

This may or may not be helpful, but have you checked into Doctors Without Borders?


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## Pond Life (Jul 12, 2015)

I've never seen EMT or Paramedic positions advertised with MSF. Not saying they don't - just never seen it.


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