Terre Haute EMS company offering career pathway for veterans
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Terre Haute-based Trans-Care Ambulance Services is looking to boost its ongoing support for veterans with a new program to provide a pathway to employment.
Operation: EMS is an initiative from the emergency medical care provider to give veterans and recently discharged military members transitioning back to civilian life the opportunity to earn a job as an emergency medical technician.
“We do have quite a bit of military within our organization now,” said Chief Operations Officer Justin Ferrell. “But it’s also something that we have passion towards, which is veterans—not only transporting them, but giving back to veterans as a whole.”
Trans-Care’s existing relationships with the Roudebush VA Medical Center in Indianapolis and the Robley Rex VA Medical Center in Louisville helped inspire the creation of the new initiative.
The Operation: EMS program is an 8-10-week program gives on-the-job training by the company’s own instructors for participants to earn their EMT license. The course is $1,500, and Ferrell said Trans-Care has scholarship and payment plan opportunities to help lessen the cost burden.
“Once you graduate [the] EMT class, they become a full-time employee with us, and once you become a full-time employee with us for after six months, we’re reimbursing that $1,500 right back to the employee,” Ferrell said.
Ferrell said demand is high from veterans who don’t know what their next move is after being discharged.
“People go into the military, and they don’t necessarily focus on what they’re going to do post-military,” he said. “So a lot of times veterans—they have trouble finding what they’re going to do next, because they’re used to that structure.”
That demand also applies to the emergency medical care industry, Ferrell said, which created a win-win situation with the Operation: EMS program.
“With a high demand of personnel for EMT and paramedics, and obviously a massive pool of veterans out there…it just kind of makes sense to target that market,” he said.
But the program doesn’t stop once the individuals earn their EMT license, according to Ferrell. After a year working with the company, the new EMTs have the opportunity to further their education and earn their paramedic license—typically a $10,000 to $15,000 endeavor—that is covered by the company with no out-of-pocket costs.
Ferrell said in addition to serving veterans in need, the goal of the program is to build a base of employees for Trans-Care.
“Our service men and women have dedicated their lives to our nation, and it is our turn to give back to them,” Trans-Care CEO Russell Ferrell said in written remarks. “Operation: EMS reflects our deep respect and gratitude for the sacrifices made by members of our military. We are committed to making their transition to civilian life as seamless and supportive as possible while empowering them to build fulfilling careers.”
You can learn more about Operation: EMS, including how to apply, by clicking here.
Trans-Care Ambulance has about 500 employees at locations in Terre Haute, Indianapolis, Clarksville, Columbus, Lafayette and Louisville.