Australian paramedics are swimming against the trans-Tasman migration tide and deciding to call New Zealand home.
Chelsea Rix, for one, has traded life in Melbourne for Tauranga and loving it.
“Here I am a two-minute walk from the beach... and I’m able to access so many places for hiking, the environment and landscape is just so different” she said.
And the work she’s doing is different too.
“Being a paramedic on road in New Zealand is completely different in terms of a scope. I’ve got so many more skills that I can use, I’m trusted as a clinician to be autonomous in my decisions, more drugs that I can use on road, more interventions” she added.
Hato Hone St John said it has hired around 13 Australian trained graduate paramedics for stationing across the country in the last 18 months. The work they're able to do here, as opposed to Australia, was a big drawcard.
The fresh recruits have joined other Australians already within the organisation.
“What we know is that at least 52 of our frontline personnel hold a paramedic qualification from Australia,” said Hato Hone St John workforce experience manager, ambulance operations, Jono Cash.
St John also had a relationship with Charles Sturt University in Australia which brings Bachelor of Paramedicine students to New Zealand for placements.
“It can be quite competitive looking for jobs and having international opportunities like New Zealand is just another way that students can find work,” said Charles Sturt University associate professor Simon Sawyer.
While New Zealand trained paramedicine graduates remained a top priority for St John, the interest from across the Tasman is helping fill vacancies.
“With the large number of graduates in Australia, and the fact that they don't have necessarily as many commitments here in New Zealand, they're able to relocate into some of those locations where we can't fill,” said Cash.
The new recruits aren't coming for higher salaries, Rix acknowledged.
“I dare say [we are] definitely taking a pay cut coming to New Zealand, but that just is what happens when you move to a smaller country. I wouldn't really trade it again like I’m here to stay even though I have a less pay, because of the lifestyle I get here in New Zealand, the culture, the people,” said Rix.
Hato Hone St John deputy clinical director Dr Elena Garcia said she believed New Zealand was a world leader in many ways when it came to paramedicine.
“We also have clinicians that work in our triage space remotely, almost in a telehealth capacity, so we have clinicians working sometimes calling and talking to patients before an ambulance gets there all the way to ambulance arrival,” said Garcia.
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