Former navy LMA looking to get back into profession after 3 years in secuirty

FrustMed84

Full Registered User
Hi Guys

i am here cos i miss the medical profession and feel like i am actually helping people as opposed to being a security manager for a corporate firm

i am aware that CP / offshore is hard to get into , especially since i have been out of practice for three years and I would welcome any advice on where to start off as my skills are still ingrained from 10 years service

please advise

TVM
 
I'm not sure what LMA entails & if you have any experience on combat cas but I'm 100% sure that if you can get some time volunteering in a A+E environment ect you should be beneficial to a team some where.

The work is hard to get into, there is work out there but once your in don't expect the pop star wages.

What certification/CP courses have you got/done? From that members here with better knowledge can assist you but! in any case..

Don't settle on a billy basic CP course, every man leaving the Army/Navy/RAF will have enough learning credits to attend a billy basic course and entering at that standard is futile, try and head for the 'Higher tier' courses, obviously always make sure you're getting your moneys worth and that it's a financial and socially suitable for you (Debt/Wife/Kids ect)


If a UK course is £2,000 and gives you 3/4 quals see if you cant save up. Should another course cost £3,500/4,000+ but gives you a whole bunch more certification and experience go for that (cant stress Experience enough)

On a side note/Story, a good friend of mine working in Africa had a few new team members turn up, one guy had Medical qualifications coming out of his ears (he was a civvie with a low level of combat trauma experience)! his mum n' dad paid for what he needed and he was employed solely on his paper (Which he may have 'elaborated on'). long story short a few days later some stuff happened and his expertise were called on and he faltered at the final step and cost one of the locals their life by being hesitant.

Network, get on Facebook pages and Linked in, subscribe to paladin jobs, don't 'Cold Letter/C.V' companies a phone call goes further, head to some seminars, meet 'n greet some people, call on old friends who may be in the business.

Don't confine yourself to 'Hazardous' work, its brimmers with guys who've just left the mil' wanting to look cool instead of working hard. Don't confine your self to Iraq and AFGH again it's saturated, do some re-search and look at different countries. think outside the box i.e is it always people who need protecting??

Be realistic and don't expect huge pay or work right away especially if your not niche, i.e Medic, TL, Driver, Language ect

Have a back up for periods of unemployment i.e If you qualify in 'HECPO' and there's no positions for 9 months have some work to fall back on and again get on some courses and get experience.

Bu that's about it,... that's my thoughts on it, people may say it's rubbish ect but I find it all to be quite subjective.

EDIT: Many job adverts will say '1 year PSD/HECPO experience required' this is generally not required and will be over looked should your military service be front line/hostile.
 
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Contact Brian at ArgusEurope,he can fix you up with top quality training and accredited courses that you will need.
office@ArgusEurope. Co. Uk

Good luck.

Regards.
 
thanks for your comprehensive reply

I was a navy medic, with two hostile Afghan tours in 2007 and 2011 in Bootneck Units, so had my share of care under fire experience

I am currently a global security manager in London and just finished a degree in International Relations so i like to think i am quite employable.

As for CP quals, i am still saving up. However, i think Ronin is the only game in town for experience and networking as i other providers in the UK are just after the ELCAS in my view and dont care if you get a job from their course.

Medical wise i will be doing my offshore medic course once i can afford it after getting into the CP world as i can only afford on thing at a time, as my ELCAS was wiped out funding my degree

I am looking at Africa for work TBH as i know middle east and afghan is going to towards eastern Europeans cos they are cheaper to employ (info form an oppo in Baghdad)

whats your take on my chances also long as i market myself as a medic?
 
Under fire experience? You haven't met my wife then... Global security manager, really? howzat work for you?

I'm not going to be negative but really?

You sound like an idiot.

Regards

Col
 
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thanks for your comprehensive reply

1. I was a navy medic, with two hostile Afghan tours in 2007 and 2011 in Bootneck Units, so had my share of care under fire experience

2. I am currently a global security manager in London and just finished a degree in International Relations so i like to think i am quite employable.

3. As for CP quals, i am still saving up. However, i think Ronin is the only game in town for experience and networking as i other providers in the UK are just after the ELCAS in my view and dont care if you get a job from their course.

4. I am looking at Africa for work TBH as i know middle east and afghan is going to towards eastern Europeans cos they are cheaper to employ (info form an oppo in Baghdad)

5. whats your take on my chances also long as i market myself as a medic?

1. I don't doubt your tours were ''hostile'' the only people who wen't on tour and weren't in a hostile environment were the people working in the NAAFIs and Pizza hut. Also ''Care under fire'' is completely different when you know a M.E.R.T or Pedro are going to come in and take the guy away, there aren't many luxrys like that in the CP world. if your oppo has been hit, you are going to care for him in what can be inredibly different and you are to blame should your care not be adequate.

2. ''Global security manager'' sounds great, it may/not help you I can't comment, but do you think that it will assist you/ does it give you the same experience as the guy who opens the door for his HVI every day? (HVI - High Value Individual) (many different names for who/what youre protection)

3. Is that Ronin South Africa or Ronin UK? What you need to understand is that the training provider will most likely not care if you get employed or not, they're meeting their target by having you on the course. They will rarely go further than giving you training and a Course performance report & if they do work will still not be given to you.

4. I could be wrong here but primerly African contracts are handled by one European and consists of a team of locals, I could be wrong but this is the case for a few guys I know. Unless you are a s--t hot medic with some actuall experience I expect it will be just as difficult as middle eastern contracts. --Again what you need to think is, a French national can find work there easier than a UK national as most of africas second tongue is French.

5. I think you need to take a look at your medic quals, what are they and to what level are they? your experiance needs to be more than 'A guy got shot and I watched another guy triage him whilst under fire'

You also need to be the guy you are on paper, you need to be DILIGENT, FIT, QUIET and PROFESSIONAL, people that rock up just to look like a COD guy and look 'luge' while walking about with a 'gat' are weeded out and usually sent packing or get various black eyes and bloodied noses.

The money isn't great! you're not going to be earning ANY WHERE NEAR the money that guys were earning doing this stuff during the early/mid stages of the Iraq war (I've never been iraq both operationally or as a CPO but simple research shows me that the wage is almost the same as a Civvie on a desk with his thumb up his a--- scratching his voice box) Guys earning huge wages are your EX SF or old hands.

There's no such thing as a foot in the door contract and to think that way is unsafe. Go into this job with a mind set of being better than the other guys.
 
Ok so, barring the obvious ribbing and shit kicking about my experience... i thanks you all for your comments

1st: For the Medic side, i served as a medic, not just a guy who did a medic course once, so my experience is quite comprehensive

2nd: I did a year in the middle east running warships medical department in 2013 as well as my Herrick tours, so I am well versed in prolonged field care and having to monitor effectively to keep a guy alive for between 24-48 hours

3rd: Ok my job inst the best, but as i work for a company which deals in the more interesting global regions a lot i would like to get into their hostile security side which is why i am contemplating a CP course and re gaining my medic quals, which i intend to do by doing my offshore medic course (which i am eligible for as i was a full time naval medic for 10 years)

4th: I know CP providers just care about guys on the seats to do the course and never offer any guarantee of work .........which is why intend to source that myself.

Thanks for the feed back guys and all i can say is that i hope you appreciate where i am coming from, but equally i am not on here to get into a (my tour was more dodgy than yours) debate , just a good understanding of the present realities which you have certainly highlighted to me.

Regards

R
 
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Unfortunately in Civvie street yours quals amount to not a lot as a former RN LMA ... with an OSM ticket you will at least demonstrate updated clinical skills, but even this won't open many doors in the security industry ...

If a company is looking for typically gold standard Medic - then you'll also have to fork out for a UK ALS course as well as some form of trauma course e.g. PHECC with BASICS ... this is just to get work as a medic - some "security" companies may take you on - G4S / Olive etc ... but typically you will also have to have undertaken a CP course (again more expense)

Given your background - you should have numerous ex mil RN medics who can offer some advice for contacts - there is nothing glamorous about work as medic in a cp role - you probably won't get your cpd courses paid for, and most of the time you will be badly let down the lack of emergency and primary health care kit that being provided ......

Another problem as a medic is lack of clinical skills upkeep within the Industry - again this is widely recognised but trying to get clinical placements is difficult to say the least - unless you have contacts that can get you a foot in the door......

The offshore market was flooded 20 years ago with Medics and Nurses fed up with the NHS and the security industry is fickle at the best of times especially as a contractor - unless your really lucky to pick up a private client. Even as an OSM - although recognised by the HSE - you might want to see if you can gain HCPC Paramedic or ODP status - this certainly gives you more professional credibility.

The quality of training provider is also something that has to be considered across all industries as there are some superb training providers , and some lesser quality ones - there is tons of information on this site.

Just in case your wondering - yes I am a former RN LMA

All the best

BZ
 
Jack,

If you are a global security manager then stay put. Nothing wrong with a few extra quals but in all fairness it sounds like you want to reinvent yourself, buy a Harley instead- great cure for mid life crisis's:) Having spent most of my adult life in the shit tips of the world I now prefer my air conditioned office with the odd trip to the field.

In all sincerity, this is probably the worst place to sex up experience with words like 'hostile' and 'under fire', just a mention of medic with a commando unit in Afghan suffices, guys on here can fill in the blanks. (Guess you worked that out already though)


Sounds to me you are doing fine already, good luck.
 
3rd: Ok my job inst the best, but as i work for a company which deals in the more interesting global regions a lot i would like to get into their hostile security side which is why i am contemplating a CP course and re gaining my medic quals

R

The Grass is always Greener. Some would say you had made it. If you are working Corporate on a Global Scale, in London, then you have access to a very comfortable, profitable job market already. If you are in-house and your company already has a "hostile security side" to the security department; you should speak to them and your line manager about training and gaining experience within their department. You have not said how long you have been there, but if they can't see you working for them you need to have a good understanding of why before making a move.

As you have mentioned that this is not your remit. I imagine you do not work for a small company, but have a Director of Security/Security Director at the helm. Raise it at your Annual review/360 as part of your PDP. You have not mentioned Security Management, Risk Assessment Qualifications or what licences you already possess.

If your frustration is with your line management and you are not in a position to influence your departments direction OR if personality clashes/company politics are your reason you don't like your job; there are many good Security Managers jobs on offer to someone already successful in that role.

If you are single you have nothing to loose. If not you will have given up job security for a very uncertain career path. How will you like the job when you are standing in a Hotel Corridor, counting the squares on the wallpaper, and can no longer decide how or where you are used. It will be a long time before you have any autonomy in what you do.
 
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