Posted on 05/16/2015 6:34:15 AM PDT by pabianice
NORTH CHICAGO, Ill. — In four deployments as an Army combat medic to some of the most dangerous corners of Iraq and Afghanistan, Joe Carney had seen the worst of war — bullet wounds, severed limbs, shrapnel. He saved lives amid bombs and gunfire, his emergency room often a patch of dirt in the desert or a rocky mountainside. None of that mattered when he left the Army three years ago.
“I think the services should do a better job because at the end of the day, your last day in the Army, the last day in the Navy, you’re out, no one cares about you,” he said. “What I tell people who are planning to get out is, you have to have a plan.”
Like many medics and Navy corpsmen, the U.S. military’s front-line medical professionals, Carney’s skills translated to almost nothing in the civilian world.
Where’s the link?
I know a guy who was a medic in the Air Force. He went into real estate for a while, but then he became a Physician’s Assistant. Of course he had to go to school for it, but it was a natural career progression for him.
Saber’s Edge: A Combat Medic in Ramadi, Iraq
http://www.amazon.com/Sabers-Edge-Combat-Medic-Ramadi/dp/1584659548
“I suspect medical professional boards do this on purpose to protect their members from competition.”
After a conversation with an Emory University doctor who did something with their medical school application process, I can go further: The universities and the Boards work together to seriously limit the number of possible doctors.
These soldiers need some fast-track, low cost, avenue to bring their skills to the marketplace. I would create a Federal program for them and force the boards to comply.
The fact that military medics are not at least EMT-rated on the line, perhaps even after several years of duty, is totally pathetic. Motivated medics should know what to expect regardless and strive for that education. Sadly, it’s apparent most do not.
But this is what our military is transforming into: Apathy.
Brought to you by your federal military leadership (along with ROE)...
And soon our soldiers won’t have a grasp on the history they’re defending (if it’s not too late already)...
USAF PJ’s are some tough troops. My niece worked with a lot of them after she retired from the Army w/26 yrs in ABQ at Sandia. Some hard work and arduous training involved. I seem to remember hearing it took 2 years to obtain all the quals.
sorry... someone please explain how their skills wouldn't immediately apply to EMT style jobs
This unfortunately is not new.When I left the Air Force in 1980 it was the same way.Once you decide to leave at the end of you D.O.S. You’re on your own.
That's detailed in the story, had the link been supplied. I found the link: Former medics find themselves on bottom rung in civilian field
My nephew was a medic went onto get his nursing degree started out at over 30 dollars an hour.
My daughter is a licensed paramedic. As the article indicates, licensing is handled state-by-state, and then once one gets his or her state license, you go study for a nationwide license. My daughter had to do this for her paramedic certificate. In addition to the classroom, it requires x number of hours experience, which she acquired volunteering at a local fire station as an EMT.
In civilian life, ya gotta have the sheepskin. Other than nursing aides/assistants, medics are not immediately qualified without additional training.
When our boomer’s Navy Corpsman was discharged he was hired as a head nurse at the local hospital. Maybe because it was a navy town (New London) they had an understanding and appreciation for what an experienced Navy Corpsman could do. He also had done a tour in Vietnam.
Maybe things have changed, but in my unit back in the 60’s the medics were a joke. They were comprised of individuals that the other platoons didn’t want. Their training was minimal and I wouldn’t have gone to them for splinter removal.
pabianice I suspect medical professional boards do this on purpose to protect their members from competition.
This has absolutely nothing to do with medical professional boards.
The Army requires all Medics to be certified through the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians, which qualifies them to be EMTs on the street. That is the civilian equivalent.
Now the question is are there enough EMT jobs out there for the sheer volume of Combat Medics ETSing? Probably not. But that has nothing to do with the premise of the excerpt above.
The best Medics I served with had the goal of going to Medical, Nursing or PA school and during my 27 year career, retiring just a few months ago, I literally wrote dozens of letters of reccomendation for young "Docs" who were doing just that.
Military medics are REQUIRED to be National Emergency Medical Technician an certified per the regs. Many choose not to keep up with this line item.
Over the last 5 years there has been a push within the military leadership to enforce this requirement more stringently, it had often been let slip.
An MOS Qualified medic should be NEMT, and most E6+ should be Paramedic certified.
Failure to be thusly qualified is primarily an individual failure to maintain standards and concurrently a failure of leadership to enforce standards.
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