Amends the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 to treat field emergency medical service practitioners in the same manner as firefighters or law enforcement officers for purposes of exempting state employers from otherwise prohibited age discrimination practices.
Allows an employer that is a state, political subdivision, and interstate agency to fail or refuse to hire, or to discharge, any such practitioner because of the individual's age if the employer provides the practitioner an annual opportunity to demonstrate physical and mental fitness by passing a job performance test identified by the Department of Health and Human Services in order to continue employment.
Defines "field emergency medical service practitioner" as an employee, the duties of whose position are primarily to perform work directly connected with the responsibility of administration of specialized pre-hospital emergency care for victims of acute illnesses or injury, including an employee engaged in such activity who is transferred to a supervisory or administrative position.