SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP)-  Illinois 16- and 17-year-olds could be allowed to work alongside emergency medical technicians as apprentices under proposed legislation.

The (Bloomington) Pantagraph reports (http://bit.ly/H0o4Ic ) that the measure would apply in rural areas of the state underserved by first responders.

The legislation approved Friday is sponsored by Republican State Rep. Chapin Rose of Mahomet.

Rose says the measure is “about helping to provide manpower.”

The program is also designed to stir interest in young people to serve their communities.

Ambulance service is thin in many rural areas where volunteers often work out of town during daylight hours.

The minimum age for ambulance drivers will still be 18.

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