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Career · Paramedic

A paramedic in the city and in the countryside – what is it really like?

About 53 min 9. august 2026 Host Jan Sindre Heltne Guest Håvard Hasund

Håvard Hasund has worked as a paramedic both in Oslo and in rural Sunnmøre. A conversation about the training, the placements, the year on dispatch and the large differences between city and countryside.

What does working as a paramedic actually involve? Håvard Hasund has several years behind him in the Oslo ambulance service, and now works in Vanylven and at the out-of-hours clinic in southern Sunnmøre. That makes him one of the few people who can genuinely compare the two working lives.

We talk about the road into the profession – from the Red Cross and smoke diving in the Coast Guard to the paramedic degree at OsloMet – what the training and the placements are really like, and why the first placement almost made him quit. We also get into how the ambulance service looks after its people after difficult callouts, the year he spent as a medical dispatcher, and what separates the pace of the city from the long distances and quiet shifts of the districts.

Emergency medicine is discussed in general terms. No identifiable patient stories are shared.

Main topics

  • The road into the paramedic profession
  • The paramedic degree at OsloMet
  • Placements in the ambulance service
  • Debriefing and mental health in the emergency services
  • A year as a medical dispatcher
  • The ambulance service in Oslo
  • The ambulance service in Vanylven and the districts
  • Differences between city and countryside

Questions this episode answers

  • How do you become a paramedic, and what training is required?
  • What is the difference between a paramedic, an ambulance worker and an ambulance driver?
  • What is the first year of the paramedic degree like?
  • What is it like doing a placement on an ambulance as a student?
  • What happens after a difficult callout – how does debriefing work?
  • What is it like taking emergency calls as a dispatcher?
  • What are the biggest differences between working in Oslo and in a rural district?
  • Who is the job right for?

Key points

  • There are three routes into the ambulance service – a paramedic degree, a vocational qualification as an ambulance worker, or nursing.
  • The first year is heavy and theoretical; the practical side only arrives in the second year.
  • The first placement is not about being the best, but about functioning and staying humble.
  • The Oslo ambulance service has its own debriefing system for difficult callouts.
  • The biggest difference between city and countryside is the volume of callouts – the underlying job is the same.

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