In order to keep up to date and maintain their skills, full-time paramedics in the Austrian Armed Forces and soldiers in the Vorarlberg Military Command are called up for training every two years.
At least 18 pure training hours are required to obtain the qualification. The content taught is reviewed at the end of the three-day training course, and the existing qualification is extended if it is passed. Colonel Dr. Arno T. led the training, which was attended by twelve militia soldiers and nine active officers and non-commissioned officers from the military command and Jäger Battalion 23. “This year, the focus was on training the emergency paramedics on the new medication lists,” said the organizational head, Vice Lieutenant Heinz H. from the Vorarlberg Military Command. “The men are extremely motivated and very interested in the innovations in the military medical system.”
For the young paramedic Private Hannes V. from Landeck, who is assigned to Jäger Battalion 23 as a paramedic in the militia, what he has learned can also be put to very good use in civilian life. “I was trained as a paramedic during my basic military service in 2012, then did the nursing assistant training privately and now work at the St. Josef am Inn nursing home in Innsbruck. The further training in hygiene and resuscitation is particularly useful here at the nursing home,” says the 27-year-old militiaman. Paramedics (eight weeks), emergency paramedics (twelve weeks) and qualified nurses (three years) are trained in the army’s medical training facilities. Training is carried out in accordance with the Austrian Paramedics Act and the Austrian Healthcare and Nursing Act. Basic military service personnel can also complete training as paramedics. With a commitment, soldiers gain unrestricted access to all job profiles in the ambulance service.
