Camp Lejeune, NC –
Navy Medicine Readiness and Training Command Camp Lejeune is enhancing Expeditionary Medical Unit capabilities by equipping hospital corpsmen with advance trauma and pre-hospital care skills through an accelerated paramedic training program offered by Navy Medicine.
These paramedic-qualified corpsmen will become an essential piece of the En Route Care System (ERCS), a core component of the Navy's Expeditionary Medicine (EXMED) system. The ERCS provides mobile, highly advanced medical care through a
variety of transport platforms like helicopters, aircraft, all-terrain vehicles, and other ground vehicles, ensuring patient stability from the point of injury to the next echelon of care.
“Historically the en route care corpsman role has been filled by Search and Rescue Medical Technicians, which is an amazing job,” said Hospital Corpsman First Class Andrew Miller, Leading Petty Officer for the Naval Medical Center Camp Lejeune Emergency Department. “I've worked with some of them, and they're excellent clinicians, but there's just not enough of them. Having additional providers with that advanced life support training to assist in filling those roles is going to be crucial.”
The Navy Enlisted Classifications for Emergency Medical Technician and for Emergency Medical Technician–Paramedic were implemented in April 2025 to identify and leverage Sailors possessing nationally recognized emergency medical technician certifications, enabling quick identification of qualified support staff for the ERCS EXMED platforms.
The prerequisites to receive the NEC and begin additional training are at least a year in the medical field and either a state or national EMT basic certification.
“Our class consisted of a total of 472 hours of didactic classroom instruction, 216 hours of laboratory, 168 hours of clinical rotations at the hospital, 252 hours of field rotations on an ambulance, for a total of 1,108 hours overall.”
Outside the classroom environment, Miller and classmates began making an immediate impact in the local counties.
“We did 14 shifts at the hospital at Cape Fear Valley Level III trauma center and then 21,12-hour shifts on ambulances in five different counties around Fayetteville,” said Miller. “I was directly involved start-to-finish in two or three cardiac arrests, a gunshot wound patient, and one of my classmates actually delivered a baby in the field on their first ride on the ambulance ... we definitely kind of ran the full gamut of 911 calls during those 21 shifts.”
Despite the strenuous schedule, Miller firmly believes that the program was worth the time invested.
"As part of the program, I got my national registry EMT paramedic certification, which allowed me to also get my North Carolina state license, as well as certifications in advanced cardiac life Support, Pediatric Advanced Life Support and International Trauma Life Support. Now I'm licensed and can work with any EMS agency in the state.”
Following his completion of the Joint Enroute Care Course, Miller will be able to integrate into Navy ERCS teams.
“I see the training being applicable operationally in whatever new conflict we go into,” stated Miller. “This new capability can help bridge the gap for moving patients from casualty collection points to role two and three [levels of care].”
If members are interested in signing up for the Navy’s Combat Paramedic Program, they can log in to the Catalogue of Navy Courses (CANTRAC) and type “Paramedic Program” into the search bar.
NMRTC Camp Lejeune is the readiness platform for Navy Medicine personnel attached to Naval Medical Center Camp Lejeune, a military medical treatment facility on Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in Eastern North Carolina.