By Allison G. S. Knox, EMT-B, faculty member at American Military University
On May 12, the Veterans Emergency Medical Technician Support Act passed the U.S. House of Representatives. This legislation, H.B. 1818, “assists military medic veterans to efficiently transition their military medical training into a civilian workforce and addresses the shortage of emergency medical technicians in states.”
This legislation will help streamline the process for former military medics to join the civilian workforce. Under this bill, it will now be easier for veterans who have completed military EMT training to meet state requirements for EMT certification and licensure.
This bill has the potential to be tremendously beneficial to local governments. First of all, it will save localities money by freeing them from having to retrain military EMTs on skills they’ve already been performing. In the last few years, many local governments have suffered from slashed budgets, which have reduced funding for the expensive process of training medics.
Full story: Veteran Emergency Medical Technician Support Act: Policy implications
