I recently received a comment from someone interested in working as a paramedic from an offshore location, such as an oil rig. In general there isn’t much information I could find out there other than a few rather authoritative pages with some information on becoming an offshore medic in the UK.

At least in the UK, one requirement to becoming an offshore medic is the BOSIET (Basic Offshore Safety Induction and Emergency Training) course, which is for those who intend to work an offshore installation in the UK under the Common Offshore Safety Induction process.

An offshore paramedic or medic provides emergency medical services on offshore oil rigs, drilling rigs, and other offshore rigs. They provide first aid and other services to rig workers who have suffered injuries, or who have been involved in an accident or gotten sick. Most offshore rig paramedics must have an ample amount of prior experience as a standard paramedic, and then they may apply for an offshore job.

Offshore Paramedic Duties

Medics on offshore rigs are expected to have a wide ranging medical knowledge base, that is to say they are essentially a “jack-of-all-trades”. Depending on whether you work on a platform, drilling rig, pipe laying barge, or DSV, you are expected to carry out certain duties. Since oil rigs are so remote out in the middle of the ocean, often there is only a single paramedic assigned to handle all the medical duties onboard. As a result, rig medics must be able to treat any and all ailments experienced by those aboard the rig.

Here are a few of the duties performed by offshore medics, just to name a few:

• Provide safety and induction instructions for all personnel arriving on location.
• Instruct all personnel and make sure they are all aware of the breathing apparatus/equipment (those used for firefighting and smoke diving) to make sure they are working properly, where they are located, and how they work.
• They ensure all the breathing apparatus are inspected and working properly, and also to provide inspection reports on a frequent basis.

Medics are expected to adhere to their employer policies, and act as personnel officer, safety officer, helicopter landing officer, storeman, administrator, and several other responsibilities. Usually the medic is the only one who knows anything about medical matters, so they can also be responsible for all public health, psychiatric care, dental emergencies, prepare emergency plan for casualty situations, and all aspects of hygiene for food handling.

Believe it or not, rig Medics must also be prepared to handle office administrative duties, and possess basic computer skills such as the use of standard productivity software.

Steps to Become an Offshore Paramedic

Becoming an offshore rig medic is quite simple actually. You simply have to register for a proper course, complete the course and apply for jobs. As for what to take, where to do it and where to apply for jobs is the more involved answer.

To get an offshore paramedic position, it is required to apply through the oil company that owns or leases the rig. If you can find an online recruiting agency to assist you to find available positions it is very helpful, but of course this requires a fee.

Alternatively, you can contact the oil rig companies directly, though finding the actual decision maker may prove difficult since there are more than 500 oil rig companies in the United States and working for these companies is is in high demand.

Lastly, these companies and rigs are usually located in remote areas, such as Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Russia, Mexico, China, Venezuela, Norway and the United Kingdom–so getting ahold of people who hire offshore paramedics can prove difficult.

For much more information on this topic, be sure to visit this web page. It is quite extensive and there are quite a few comments that have been built up. Also it has information on submitting resumes, along with a sample want ad for an offshore paramedic job.

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