San Joaquin County hopes Arnold vetoes EMT bill
By Les Mahler
Inside Bay Area (California)
Copyright 2006 MediaNews Group, Inc. and ANG Newspapers
All Rights Reserved
Stockton, Calif. — San Joaquin County officials are hoping that the governor vetoes a bill that they say would set up a two-tier system of discipline for emergency medical technicians in the county.
AB 2554 (PDF), authored by Assemblyman Mark Ridley-Thomas, D-Los Angeles, and co-authored by Assemblyman Greg Aghazarian, R-Stockton, would take away the county’s right to discipline emergency medical technicians and give it to fire departments and districts.
“This is bad for the citizens,” said Dan Burch, the county’s director of Emergency Medical Services. “It detracts from public safety.”
Aghazarian did not return phone messages for comment.
Under the current system, Burch’s EMS department disciplines all EMTs. But if the governor signs the bill, fire districts and departments would be responsible for discipline of their EMTs.
The problem with the legislation, according to Burch, is that a fire department could only place an employee on probation while the EMS agency might hand out a more severe punishment.
Last year, the county had to discipline 10 EMTs, with actions ranging from probation to suspension, he said. One Lodi technician had to be decertified because he was a registered sex offender, Burch said.
Under the current system, an EMT’s certification is overseen by a medical director, he said.
“It’s an expert’s opinion that rules over issues affecting discipline, criminal conduct, drug or alcohol problems,” he said.
Under the bill, the fire chief would be the sole decision maker on all issues, including clinical issues, according to Burch.
Independent government experts review discipline problems if other medical licenses, he said.
Even if a fire department fires an EMT, it can’t decertify the technician, allowing an EMT fired by the Stockton Fire Department to find a job in another county, according to Burch.
Mike Lilienthal, president of the Stockton Professional Firefighters Union Local 456, said it’s a matter of fairness to local medical technicians EMTs.
“Someone shouldn’t be disciplined twice for doing something wrong,” he said. “It’s an issue of double jeopardy.”
Stockton EMTs are already held accountable by city taxpayers, Lilienthal said. “They should not be held accountable again by the county.”
If an EMT with the Stockton Fire Department gets into trouble, there’s an investigation through internal affairs, Lilienthal said.
“Then between the fire chief, human resources and the city manager, discipline is invoked,” he said. “The standards within our department are set high.”