| Offshore Paramedics |
| In January of 2001 I decided that after 14 years on the street I'd had enough fun for a while. I needed, I decided, to be in a much different environment than the System Status Ambulance system could provide. I found a company in Lafayette, Louisiana called Acadian Ambulance. Acadian provides, among other things, Paramedics for offshore oilrigs. The job I do now is quite different from my previous job. For one, there isn't a whole lot of major medical action going on out here. Most of what we deal with here is in the cold and flu department. Acadian hires mostly experienced medics because they know you won't be getting much experience out at sea. This is, overall a good thing. The potential is certainly there for a Paramedic to use his or her skills to the fullest. Right now we're an hour's helicopter ride from the beach, which means if somebody does get hurt, you're the only medical help for at least an hour, maybe two or more. We do have an extended range of medical skills and tools here. We carry and administer antibiotics, suture and care for eye and ear maladies you wouldn't address on the street. This we do with the help of a physician who's at our disposal day and night. The oil business is quite a bit safer than it used to be and I have no doubt that the guys and gals out here are much safer here than they are at home. Still, the potential is there. These guys work with heavy equipment all day in the most adverse of conditions and things can happen. As of this writing my rig has been over a year without an injury that required even a suture, so these occurences are quite rare. What, you may ask, do you do all day. Well, the answer is "it depends". The responsibilities of medics vary greatly from one contractee to the next. Some just want you to hang around and keep breathing in case somebody gets hurt. Others, like my rig, require you to do a bit of work. The work here it by no means hard. We keep up with who's on or off the rig, answer the phone, do a little paperwork, pass out clothes, stuff like that. Nothing serious. Living conditions are actually pretty nice also. I'm on a deep-water rig, we drill in water up to a mile or so deep, so our accomodations are nicer than some. We sleep in carpeted double occupancy rooms. Usually your roommate is working while you sleep so you have the place to yourself. The room has its own bathroom and shower. Meals are pretty good, about the same quality as Quincy's or Ryan's, with steak one or two nights a week.We have internet access, phones, satellite TV with HBO and Showtime. All the comforts of home except one, you're not home. Everyone here works 12-hour days every day for three weeks in a row. After that you're on your own for three weeks and the paychecks keep coming. This part I like quite a bit. I've seen family and friends since I started here that I hadn't seen in years, and done things I'd been meaning to do for decades. It's really quite nice, and the business is at this writing booming to say the least. |
| One of my partners' name is Carl. He's from New York. Carl's been a medic for about fifteen years. He's originally from Louisianna, but currently resides in upstate New York. People who work here commute from all over the world, and Carl is no exception. Carl has many fun and interesting stories about life on the streets which we will, I'm sure, be contributing shortly. He has a wife and a daughter and he once carried a 40-year-old man to the hospital and, with a straight face, told a licensed physician that the gentleman was 9 months pregnant. The doctor's reply: "Carl, you know we don't take obstetrical patients here." |
| Interested? Here's a link to Acadian Ambulance: They hire state certified Paramedics from all over the country. If you tell them Rod McGinnes sent you, I'll get a big bonus, and I'll split it with you. |
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