House passes Veterans EMT Support Act

The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday passed the Veterans EMT Support Act, H.R. 1818, by a vote of 415-1.

The legislation seeks to assist military medic veterans in effectively transitioning their military medical training into the civilian workforce while addressing the shortage of emergency medical technicians in individual states.

The bill directs the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to establish a demonstration program for states with a shortage of emergency medical technicians to develop a streamlined transition program for trained military medics to meet state EMT licensure requirements.

The bipartisan bill was introduced by U.S. Reps. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) and Lois Capps (D-CA).

“I’m proud to see H.R. 1818 pass the House with such strong bipartisan support,” Kinzinger said. “The Veteran EMT Support Act is a common sense bill that helps veterans transition into civilian careers, improve public health and ensure communities have first responders to answer challenging emergency calls like opioid overdoses. Thank you to Congresswoman Lois Capps for her strong support and advocacy of this bill. I look forward to the Senate taking up this important legislation and the several others that were passed this week to help combat the thousands of opioid overdose deaths each year.”