Legislative Help

Rep. Joseph Pitts (R-PA), who chaired the subcommittee hearing, noted that many areas in the United States have a shortage of EMTs, and military medics could potentially fill those workforce gaps. He is among the supporters of a bill that would give states demonstration grants to study how to better integrate military medics into civilian EMT jobs.

“There are a number of issues keeping military medics from EMT employment,” Pitts said. “Most importantly are state licensing requirements, which can require duplicative training and education that is likely to be unnecessary for someone with significant experience. There is a need to better understand the differences in military medic training vs. traditional EMT training and bridge the gap between the two to make it easier for our returning soldiers to find jobs. It is our hope that this bill would allow states to study this and streamline their EMT requirements for those returning from the military who have the experience so desperately needed in many communities.”

Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ), said he supports the bill and pointed out that the country has an obligation to make sure that returning veterans “have the necessary tools to navigate this difficult market.”

Nichols, an advocate for the bill, told the subcommittee that he thought the “ultimate solution” would be to create a way in which training provided by DoD could be accredited by civilian standards and so “allow military training and skills to easily transition into existing safeguards and competency standards established by civilian and state institutions.” Legislation would be needed to do this, he added.

“If there is one area where there is a national ability to take action, that to me is the one area,” Nichols said.

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