Paramedics moving to Hawaii

[Budwiserfrog]

Man, this is all so confusing, you obviously understand your own abreviations.

I'm a Paramedic in London, UK. I was considering maybe transferring abroad, but still none the wiser about the regulations of the job over there,


We work out of stations, not hospitals. The LAS (London Ambulance Service) deal with Accident and Emergency, the LFB (london fire brigade) deal purely with fire calls, rescue etc but are not clinical at all, and the Metropolitan Police are justice and law, obviously.

our starting wage is 21k + inner london waiting (which is payment for commuting purposes and something called the congestion zone, where cars are charged to drive through the centre, therefore we are paid an extra 6k) +25% unsocial allowance (4k) my total salary works out as just about £31,500.00 which is the equivalent to $50.159.23 (around that)

I did my training through university, and have a foundation degree in Paramedic science.

In london Emergency Medical Technicians have a grading, (1, 2, 3 and 4) and then Paramedic is the lead clinician. We can Intubate, perform Needle cricothyroidotomy's, Needle thoracentesis, External Jugalar Vein cannulation, Itraosseous Drilling, we can make autonomous decision to thrombolise an MI without faxing Electrocardiograms (ECG, i know you guys called them EKG's) to hospitals.

Drugs we carry are

*Atropine, Aspirin, *Amiodarone, Adrenaline 1:1000 *1:10000, *Benzylpenicillin, *Chlorophenamine, *Clopidogrel, *Diazepam and *Diazemuls, Dextrose 40% gel, Entonox, *Furosemide, Glucagon, *Glucose 10%, GTN, Hydrocortisone, Ibuprofen, Ipratropium Bromide, *Lidocaine, *Metoclopramide, *Morphine (oral and IV), Naloxone Hydrochloride, O2, Paracetamol, Salbutamol, *Sodium Chloride, *Syntometrine, *Reteplase, *Tenecteplase, *Heparin.

(the ones with stars are Paramedic drugs only)

we work 12 hour shifts, rotating.
We receive about 4500 calls a day.
there is normally a paramedic with an EMT, although EMT's are permitted to attend emergency calls aslong as atleast one is graded 3 and above.

Is the job out there much different???

Im considering a change...

[OpenD]

I'm no expert, but I do have a friend who has lived in Keau'u 25 years and became an EMT as a second career 15 years ago. There just wasn't enough work here in his original field of mine safety.

I know he had to go to Oahu for training, then he worked steady for the Hawai'i County Fire Dept, and he just retired. I'll ask him if he can contribute anything.

Unfortunately I was just reminded of what an essential service this is, when the traffic up Highway 11 from Hilo was completely halted for a half an hour at about the 18 mile marker. Police, fire rescue, and paramedics were out in force attending to a horrendous twisted metal crash of two pickups, literally out in the middle of nowhere.

God bless our public safety people.

[eureka1]

Could someone put a big, big sticky at the top of this forum (and others) reminding people that you have to have PERMISSION TO WORK in the US before "considering a change" ?

[Budwiserfrog]

what would determine permission to work?

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by Budwiserfrog

what would determine permission to work?

If you are not a US citizen, you need a Visa and a work permit from the federal government.

[RMD3819]

USCIS - Working in the United States

[mf5225]

I see no posts on this topic in a while and I'm looking for some info. I'm a NYC paramedic and I hold NREMTP as well. I'm looking to move out to Honolulu and I'm just curious what the process is currently like and if there's jobs in the private transport sector that I can work while waiting for the city ? How long is the process and is it difficult to get on as far as competition and requirements?? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

[atp162]

If you are interested in working in EMS in the state of Hawai'i, you first need to find out if your training program certification meets equivalency in order to obtain a license to practice here.


Start with the Board of Medical Examiner's website:


Professional & Vocational Licensing | Application Forms & Publications


Professional & Vocational Licensing | Medical and Osteopathy FAQ’s


The only private EMS employer in HI is American Medical Response. There are jobs to be had working ground ambulance on Oahu and the Big Island of Hawai'i. They do interfacility transports and 911 backup on both these islands.


C&C of Honolulu's EMS Division is constantly recruiting for paramedics, but the performance expectations are very high and a fair number of paramedics from out of state have had difficulty meeting that performance bar. Kapi'olani Community College's EMS Dept. (808-734-9288/9289) has a ride-along program that a non-City-employed EMT or paramedic can utilize to see how calls are run here. You would have to apply to as a university student and pay tuition fees per credit hour.


I can't give you any estimate on how long the process will take as each person's degree of training and experience and what needs to be done to meet equivalency is different.


Do a search on this forum using terms such as "paramedic", "EMT", and "EMS". There's quite a few threads that can give you more information on this subject.