Louisville Metro EMS Targets Veterans For Training

For the first time, Louisville Metro EMS is targeting veterans for its next EMT training academy.“They’re disciplined. They understand chain of command. They understand direct order. They understand protocol and process,” said Jennifer Maupin, the personnel coordinator with LMEMS. She’s also an Army veteran.The idea is partly a response to the EMS agency’s high turnover rate, she said. LMEMS is constantly processing new EMTs and since Maupin joined in March, paramedic positions have always been available.LMEMS is currently in the process of hiring a small group of new-hires, but starting next month the agency is expecting to find its next cohort of trainees for its academy, and to target veterans.“Most of the time we’re looking for people that already have the certification as an EMT or paramedic. At the academy class we’re actually going to train them to become the EMT. They are actually going to be paid while they’re in class,” Maupin said.The idea is also a response to the high veteran unemployment rate and the idea that veterans may be familiar with EMS operations, she said. A soldier's training and knowledge of protocols are similar to the expectations of an EMS agency, Maupin said.“I think they would be very good EMTs and paramedics and anybody that’s been in the military or somehow tied to the military can understand that,” she said.Maupin will attend Congressman John Yarmuth’s veteran’s jobs fair Monday to recruit interested individuals to the program.Recruitment is expected to be formally announced next month and training would begin early next year.