OPINION:
When serving our country, military members receive some of the best medical training and experience available. These individuals’ sacrifice, commitment to duty and ability to get the job done in austere environments make them exceptionally well-suited to working as emergency medical technicians (EMTs) and paramedics in our communities upon their honorable separation from the U.S. armed forces. Experienced military medics are often required to duplicate their medical training at the most basic level to receive certification to be hired for a civilian emergency medical services (EMS) job.
The Veteran Emergency Medical Technicians Support Act of 2015 will help veterans return to work upon their completion of military duty, and it will reduce unemployment among veterans. In 2012, 10,000 military medics separated from the military and entered the civilian workforce. This important legislation makes it easier and faster for veterans who served as military medics to earn certification as civilian emergency medical technicians, and serves to fill an essential public function in communities across our nation. According to a recent Bureau of Labor Statistic’s Occupational Outlook, there will be 55,000 new civilian EMT and paramedic jobs created between 2012 and 2022. The projected job growth rate is 23 percent, much faster than the average growth rate for all occupations.
The act addresses these issues by amending the Public Health Service Act to direct the Department of Health and Human Services to establish a demonstration program for states with a shortage of emergency medical technicians (EMTs). This is done in order to streamline state requirements and procedures so as to assist veterans who have completed military EMT training to meet state EMT certification, licensure and other requirements.
The act would also determine the extent to which the requirements for education, training and skill level of emergency medical technicians in the state are equivalent to requirements for the education, training and skill level of military emergency medical technicians. It would give priority to states that demonstrate a shortage of emergency medical technicians, and require no additional funding.
SARA LANGDON
Walkersville, Md.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.