paramedic practitioners

[Guest guest]

Gents,

     Once again it looks like we will be revisiting the idea of paramedics in

the field with an expanded role.  Is there anyone out there who has had

experience with this concept?  I know that worldwide the role of paramedics has

expanded exponentially over the last few years.  What i really need to know is

have any systems officially adopted an advanced skills paramedic certification

and if so could you share some of your experiences. 

     Here in the US we are a bit spoiled in that remote regions are few and in

our system in particular our medics consider a 20 min transport to be extreme. 

Some areas (large parks, mountainous) have adopted select specialized skills but

we still have no standard for services.  We have a long way to go with this

project and do not need to reinvent anything if we don't have to.  Any help or

advice will be appreciated.

 

jerry

From: Ian Sharpe <Ian@...>

Subject: Re: Looking for advice re: moving into safety

Date: Wednesday, December 10, 2008, 6:09 AM

Andy,

There are numerous qualifications related to safety and dozens of organisations

who can help.

The two main professional bodies generally accepted (from the UK side) are

IOSH – the institute of occupational safety and health

And

IISRM – international institute of safety and risk management

(Half and hour on google will tell you all you need to know)

Training organisations are also numerous but the generally accepted entry level

qualification is the NEBOSH certificate, which can be done either by distance

learning or taught course. Also don’t discount the BSC – British Safety Council,

I’m told they also have some good courses.

The problem with moving into safety is people come from many different

backgrounds and consequently take many different routes to get where they are.

The common thing I found when I moved into safety was that there is no common

thing!. That sounds odd but what I mean is if you line 10 Safety guys up and ask

them what quals and background they have you’ll get 10 different answers, to put

that in to perspective, offshore on my project working for the client there are

6 of us holding 3 b2b positions, all of us are different and all hold different

certs and diplomas but we all fulfil the same job spec, and desptie sharing the

same job description we don't really share common quals

There is no right and wrong way, though in truth some quals are better

recognised that others eg NEBOSH

From personal experience the route I took was;

Ex Medic

NEBOSH Certificate

Based on the above and experience got entry to IOSH at Tech Level

Then NVQ Level 4 Occ Safety and Health,

Which led to Graduate Membership of IOSH & amp; Full Membership of IIRSM

The intention now based on the above is to complete an MSc, which should wrap up

the academic stuff, then just build on it with more experience.

The first three above and a few lucky breaks were sufficient to secure me a full

time HSE position. I’ve said it before on this forum and I’ll say it again, it

was without a doubt the best career move I ever made….

I was a medic for many years so I can with hand on heart say this but in the oil

and gas industry medics are never really taken seriously, they are underpaid and

underappreciated and despite the plethora of high quality guys out there

fulfilling positions . For the most part they never will be taken seriously.

(The below average salaries reflect that).

Moving into safety, the salary rockets, management (SOMETIMES) listen, and you

can really make a difference. Its not everyone’s cup of tea, but for me

personally it was a great move, its not rocket science and anyone with

reasonable intelligence, a health background, and good analytical skills would

find safety relatively easy and hopefully rewearding.

Oh that and you need a really thick skin and be prepared to upset a few people !

Hope the above helps, if you want any more info drop me a line,

Rgs

Ian

----- Original Message -----From: " buemedic1 " >;andrew.rice@ ic24.net