SECTION 1. Subsection (b) of section 3 of chapter 111C of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2016 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after clause (3) the following clause:-

(3a) develop standards and promulgate regulations establishing criteria for determining the extent to which the education and training requirements for veterans and military medics of the United States Armed Forces are substantially equivalent to the education and training requirements of emergency medical technicians in the commonwealth;

SECTION 2. Said chapter 111C is hereby further amended by inserting after section 9 the following section:-

Section 9a.  The department shall, based on the department standards and regulations established pursuant to clause (3a) of subsection (b) of section 3, determine if veterans or military medics of the United States Armed Forces applying for emergency medical technician, hereinafter EMT, certification in the commonwealth have completed courses or training required by the United States Armed Forces that is substantially equivalent to the state emergency training requirements.  If the department determines that a veteran or military medic applying for EMT certification has completed substantially equivalent training, the department shall issue a waiver of any course or training requirement for certification in the commonwealth, for any course or training completed through the United States Armed Forces that is found, by the department, to be substantially equivalent to the requirement of certification in the commonwealth; provided, that the applicant submits sufficient proof of completion of the substantially equivalent training to the department.  No veteran or military medic applying for EMT certification who has completed substantially equivalent emergency training with the United States Armed Forces, as determined by the department, shall be required to complete the same training for EMT certification or licensing in the commonwealth.

The department shall issue a verification of EMT training equivalency to the applicant upon a determination that the applicant’s training, including any substantially equivalent training received in the United States Armed Forces and accepted pursuant to this section, satisfies the commonwealth’s training requirements.