Ches

Hi
We were looking to move to Perth from the UK and needed some information about Paramedics in the Perth ambulance service. My husband is a UK registered Paramedic and we would like to know what skills they can do, what they earn approximately and if it is worth working for this service?

Also any news re: Perth would also be appreciated. My worries are that it may be a little quiet and isolated. We are looking for beach side living with all the perks of city life (culture/bars/shopping) without the expense or chaos of somewhere like Sydney.

Please help

Thanks

j

skye

Have you looked on their website, they are recruiting from the UK at the moment, they are advertising in all the ambulance magazines too....

Ches

Hi

Yep we have been on the website but nothing compares with exchanging notes wtih someone that has done it. The pay scale onl the website is for 2004 so not sure just how accurate it is.

did you say you have been for an interview with them? Any tips as my husbands is coming up soon hopefully

Ta
J

skye

Hi Ches

We are both going to Queensland Ambulance Service, they were over last month interviewing.... maybe worth you looking at them if you are flexible about where you want to go - we are hoping to go out in July if we can meet their timescale - scary!

Ches

We have been offered a position with QLD and NSW. We would love to live in Sydney but its too expensive and we got back from Brisbane 3 days ago and unfortunately its just not the place for us. We want to be near a beach and a city and Brisbane has mudflats. It may well be an option if Perth doesn't come up but thanks for the info.

j

sals

As Skye has I've got on with QAS but we're not going to Brisbane we are heading to northern Queensland, Townsville to be exact. Have you considered this area? There's much more to Queensland then Brisbane! Townsville and Mackay area is right on the great barrier reef, there are gorgeous beaches all the way up northern Queensland from the Whitsundays right up to Cairns in the far north. You should take a look. We plan to live at Bushland Beach, 15 kms from Townsville CBD, 5 min walk to beach. You should check it out it's amazing.

Flapper

Hi, i am also a UK paramedic (13yrs), working for the Welsh NHS Trust. I also started the recruitment process with both the Queensland and Western Australian (St. John's) services some 10 months ago, and have just returned from a months rekkie from Perth and surrounding areas. I have been offered a position with WA, with a start date of mid-Sept and the 457 visa process under-way. I have also just had a letter stating i was successful at the London interview with QAS just before we left for WA.
I have been pretty impressed with the set-up of the St. Johns so far (nothing like the UK experiances), and we generally loved WA. Also it's around 5hrs closer to the UK, and is a much drier heat with a daily cooling breeze, and is supposedly more laid back, and less crowded with bigger distances between civilisation! Supposed to be less 'nasties' as well. They are offering $64,600, not quite as much as QAS at $76,000, but the set-ups seem a bit different. This would mean around £3000 pay-cut, but there does seem to be a lot of oppertunities to increase your income, and a lot of things are free or cheaper than the UK. It's also a chance of an improved life-style for the family, which you cannot really put a price on.
Perth does offer a choice of beach life next to vibrant, open and clean city, surrounded by remote bushland, and is experiancing a massive economic boom combined with high house prices and lots of building. Perth is basically rapidly spreading up and down the coast, but is supposed to be capped by 2010.
I have also had an e-mail from NSW, but i don't think i have the energy for any more recruitment processes!!
Good luck with your decision, and i will post any news of the WA St. Johns organisation as it comes.
Regards,
Martin.

Ches

Hi Martin,

Thanks for the info. You are in the exact same position as us. We have jobs in QLD and NSW and now are in the process for WA. We were quite hesitant when we found out about the wage and we are worried that most of the work is patient transport services. We are waiting for the phone interview this week and hopefully will have more answers then but if you were happy to PM us we would love as much info on the recruitment process/service/Perth area as you could give.

Let me know

Thanks

J
p.s fairly new to this so don't really know how PM works but if you post me a reply i will look into it!!