Life on the Ocean Wave

This is my new office.

Several hundred nautical miles from land, somewhere between Shetland and Norway, my medical bay is quiet.

I can’t hear any radios screeching for ambulances to clear, no controllers watching my every move, no drunks rolling in their own vomit – alcohol is not allowed offshore.

I’m on board the Olympic Areas, a spanking new ‘multi purpose’ vessel designed for the oil and gas industry. She’s a Norwegian vessel and I’m enjoying the copious amounts of salmon for lunch – and dinner. Having left full time employment in the NHS early in 2017 and trained for over a year as an Offshore Medic and Diver Medic, the opportunity came quickly to leave dry land and head out to the oil rigs of the Thistle Field.

View from my office

I was flown to Aberdeen by business, my hair grew long, I ate some fantastic food and the 80+ crew on board were super polite and a pleasure to be around. This is just as well as I was on board for 5 weeks!

Thistle Alpha lit up at night.

Life on board can be quite comfortable! Once I had passed all my offshore courses I received a lovely good luck gift from the B&B I was staying at, in Aberdeen. I also had a half way delivery from Helen on MV Valhalla with some creature comforts delivered to Lerwick port call! A wonderful start to a new career.