Daily Occurrences Jeopardize Your EMT or Medic License and Career
By Jennifer Coalson-Perez
Executive Director, EMS Guardian
LET’S BE HONEST. I MEAN REALLY HONEST.
Raise your hand if you’ve ever done any of the following:
- Had too much to drink while on vacation and did something stupid like get in a bar fight or fall off a curb.
- Had a really bad day after a string of really bad days and took more than your fair share of Tylenol Pm just so you could get some sleep.
- Had a run in with a supervisor who you knew just had it out for you.
- Made a mistake on a patient’s chart or misdiagnosed someone.
I will personally cop to 1 through 3; hand meekly raised, sheepish look on my face with a caveat for number 4: I am not a EMT or Paramedic so I don’t have patients nor their charts, but I have certainly made my fair share of mistakes at work. I’m guessing unless your first name is Mother and your last name is Theresa, you raised your hand a little too and If that hand is up in theory or reality- the following information is especially important.
BACKGROUND CHECKS AND LICENSE DISCIPLINE
Over the last decade, approximately 400 complaints per year have been filed with the California Emergency Medical Services Authority against EMT and Paramedic Licenses for incidents that stem from DUIs, mis-charting or diagnosing, mis-use of “drugs” prescription or otherwise, or complaints from supervisors or co-workers.
We expect this number to steadily rise with the passage of AB 2917, which requires that all EMTs and Advanced EMTs have a California Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) criminal background check. AB 2917 also requires that the certifying entity and the EMS Authority receive subsequent arrest notification from DOJ.
What does this mean for California Paramedics and EMT’s? That any run in with law enforcement will come up when and EMT or Paramedic goes to renew his license and if that conviction happens to be a DUI, the EMT is at serious risk of losing his license, if not properly defended. About 70% of license “complaints” are a result of a conviction of a crime. The remaining 30% are fairly evenly split between accusations such as:
- Alcohol, Narcotic, Drug, or Controlled Substance Abuse (here’s the Tylenol PM “overdose”)
- Fraud in the Procurement of a License (you didn’t disclose an expunged juvenile conviction)
- Fraudulent, Dishonest, or Corrupt Act (you say you had 8 hours of CE’s when it was really 6)
- Outside Supervision of Medical Control (you fail to asses or treat a patient properly)
- Unprofessional Conduct (someone thinks you handle a patient too roughly)
- Violating Statutes or Regulations (working with an expired license)
MISCONCEPTIONS: C’MON, THIS NEVER HAPPENS
There is a misconception that license investigations and disciplines never happen, but 500 people a year are busted for one of the above offenses. There is also a misconception among the EMT and Paramedic community that a DUI, conviction of a crime or other accusation is an automatic career killer. This is simply not the case. Attorneys have been successful in defending licenses for EMTs and paramedics, if they can show that the conviction is not substantially related to their jobs or if they can provide enough Mitigating Evidence to convince the Authority that the individual should be placed on probation rather than have their licenses revoked.
According to Authority documents, a number of EMTs or Paramedics are simply walking away from their licenses after an off duty DUI or other similar conviction, and they don’t have to. With expert representation, these Paramedics and EMTs can defend their licenses and continue doing the jobs they love. That is where EMS Guardian comes in.
HOW MUCH IS YOUR LICENSE WORTH?
If your fire-fighter career is based upon your ability to be a paramedic or EMT, then your license over the course of a 30 year career will be worth around $2.5 million dollars. But there is still a need for affordable license defence because neither malpractice insurance, professional associations, nor employers cover license representation. Disciplinable licensing complaints are most often the result of an incident that is outside the course and scope of an EMT or paramedics job, which precludes them from any coverage for the incident and defending a license can cost anywhere from $5000.00 to $25,000.00. You make good money, but probably not enough that you have $5 grand sitting around in your private legal defense fund.
CSFA has negotiated a member only rate for its Paramedics and EMT licensed members so you can affordably protect your career. For more information, call us today at (888) 993-1600 and find out how you can safeguard your $2.5 million dollar license for less than $0.33 cents per day.
If you are a California EMT, Paramedic or professionally license firefighter and your professional license is under investigation, you’ve been notified that there is a complaint against your EMS license, or the EMS Authority has filed an accusation against your EMT or Paramedic license, contact the license defense attorneys of EMS Guardian right away. We can help defend your license and save your EMS career.
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