Anyone with possible advice

[IrishMedic]

Im a qualified NREMT EMT-B in the State of Indiana and Recently certified Paramedic NREMT. I currently live in Ireland and am an Irish citizen. I am looking to move to the USA next year with my Girlfriend (who is an american citizen and from california). But i would love to try and get a service to try help me out. I am a qualified firefighter 4 years in Ireland and i am looking to do Fire 1 and Fire 2 in the USA. I work both fulltime and voluntary with services here in Ireland. The reason i would like to get a job and move over is that i feel i would love to work in country where i can live the dream, get the best experience as a medic and give back to the country that trained me..corny i know but thats how i feel...so if anyone can point me in the right direction or have any constructive advice, id love to hear it......

 

[Jon]

Are you looking to move anywhere in particular? I know that Southwest and other places in AZ often have ads in JEMS looking for medics and offering relocation assistance... that might also work well if your significant other has family in CA.

Jon

 

[akflightmedic]

Seeing as how you have NR EMT P, you are in a good position. As far as your fire certs, depending on where you go, you will more than likely have to redo a fire academy.

Are you set on being a fire medic or would working only as a paramedic intrest you?

What states do you have in mind? There are tons of options out there, if you give a little more focus, there are plenty of people here that can give you some great advice and very detailed information.

Having said that, here is my opinion if I were in your shoes. I would do my damndest to come over as a medic, get some experience, get a feel for different areas and then start trying to cross into being a fire medic if that is your ultimate goal.

Now relocating can be very expensive and wages are not that great. But if I were to cross the pond, I would find a service that was hurting for paramedics and was willing to pay a sign on bonus.

It just so happens, Acadian ambulance is still paying paramedics a 20K sign on bonus. Now first of all, I do not particularly care for Louisiana, however if I were making such a big move and needed a job, using them for the two year committment would not be beneath me.

They will give you 10K up front for relocation/sign on, 5K at completion of month 12 and the final 5K at completion of month 24.

I would think long and hard about this opportunity as it is one of the highest sign ons for medics I have seen in years. Now mind you, Louisiana EMS is not top notch by any stretch of the imagination, the state itself is not all that impressive, however the cost of living is very low, you will get a ton of ALS experience, and the $$$ will help absorb some of your moving costs.

While sitting in that position, you can take your time and start exploring all the other options and states.

Just my .02 cents

 

[IrishMedic]

hey no im not set on being a fire/medic straight off, i am more driven by the medic side of life. thank you for your advice. i guess we had thought bout california and AZ mostly. but i will definitely look into louisiana. that 20,000K would certainly come in very handy. i know that pay etc.. would be slightly a dip but honestly i cant continue working in a country where my skills arent recognised to the full potential...my qualifications are only good enough to be given recognition as basically an EMT with a few more drugs...Im a medic and i wanna be able to use my almost my qualification to save lives...i know that protocols guide the way but protocols in ireland are so restricted...my other half has family in cali, mainly grand parents n uncles, so she was was hoping to stay close enough to visit now n again, but shes not put off to move somewhere for a two yrs so i can get set up