WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Mike Enzi (R-WY) renewed their efforts to help increase job opportunities for returning veterans. The senators reintroduced their bipartisan legislation – the Veterans to Paramedics Transition Act – that would streamline civilian paramedic training for returning veterans who already have emergency medical experience as a result of their military service, making it easier for them to secure jobs as paramedics. The bill would also help reduce the shortage of much-needed emergency medical personnel in rural communities across the country.

“Many returning veterans have significant medical training, and it is simply common sense that they should be able to use these battle-tested skills to secure a good job," said Klobuchar. "This legislation would make it easier for them to get jobs as paramedics while helping ensure our rural communities have access to high-quality medical personnel.”

“Veterans gain valuable medical experience during their military service and should not be forced to take costly and redundant training, especially when it can keep them from getting a job they are qualified for,” said Enzi. “This issue is particularly important in rural and frontier communities, like those in Wyoming, that face shortages of emergency medical personnel. By encouraging the creation of fast-tracked paramedic certification programs for our veterans we are sending a message that skills learned during a career in the military give you an advantage when returning to the civilian job market. ”

Staff Sgt. Eyamba Sowers, a combat medic with the 188th Infantry Brigade, First Army Division East, listens to the simulated heartbeat of the Laerdal SimMan patient simulator during a four-day familiarization course held in September at the Regional Training Site-Medical, Fort Gordon, Ga. (Photo Credit: Sgt. Amburr Reese, First Army Division East)

Expert Analysis Streamlining combat medic to civilian medic process is good I applaud the efforts being made to facilitate the transfer of military medics into civilian EMS roles. As the article on the Veterans to Paramedics Transition Act points out, there is significant overlap in training between the military and civilian prehospital provider, especially in the trauma theater. While it’s rare (fortunately) to see massive soft tissue injuries associated with battlefield mechanisms in the civilian world, the basic principles of airway, breathing and circulation management remain the same. It must be terribly frustrating for combat medics to have to retrain on the same information simply because one returns home from deployment; it presents an unnecessary hurdle, another barrier for folks who are trying to pick up their lives from where they left off. By the same token, there are also critical gaps in the knowledge base between the military and civilian medic, especially in the management of medical conditions and assessment and care of pediatric, geriatric and behavioral emergency patients. Any curriculum that is designed to fast track medics must address these gaps, as well as provide clinical and field internships for veterans to hone their newly-added skills and knowledge. Related articles Combat medics betrayed by civilian job market

Pa. renames highway after combat medic who lost both legs Related feature Inside EMS Podcast: Is air transport overused?; why military medics can't find civilian work Interview with Ben Chlapek, a retired Lieutenant Colonel from the U.S. Army, paramedic and fire chief, about his work to help veteran Army medics find a civilian EMS job

Rural communities have long faced critical shortages in emergency medical personnel, threatening the safety of rural residents. Meanwhile, thousands of men and women in the military receive emergency medical training as part of their duties. For example, most Army combat medics are currently certified as Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) at the basic level. When these veterans return to civilian life, however, their military-based medical training is often not counted toward training and certification as civilian paramedics. Many existing programs require all students to begin with an entry-level curriculum. For veterans, this means spending extra time and money for training that, in effect, they have already received.

Specifically, the bill would authorize federal grants for universities, colleges, technical schools, and State EMS agencies to develop an appropriate curriculum to train these veterans and fast-track their eligibility for paramedic certification. A standard paramedic training program can take one to two years to complete.

This legislation has been endorsed by the American Ambulance Association, the Minnesota Ambulance Association, and the National Rural Health Association.