By Aaron Hale
Naples Daily News
COLLIER COUNTY, Fla. — Collier firefighters and a Bonita Springs paramedic training school have been cleared of 2010 paramedic test-cheating allegations following a Florida Bureau of EMS probe.
The Collier County Commission requested the state investigation in November after Jeff Page, chief of Collier County Emergency Medical Services, alleged cheating in a paramedic preparatory class that enrolled firefighters from several Collier departments, including the city of Naples, North Naples, Isles of Capri and Ochopee. In a letter sent to Page dated March 1, the Bureau of EMS stated that after “an extensive investigation” it was determined there were no violations and the case would be closed.
Although the state inquiry is over, a debate over how the county staff handled the complaint may have just begun. Collier Commissioner Georgia Hiller, who wasn’t yet on the commission when the accusations were made, has requested a discussion at Tuesday’s meeting.
She said she has concerns with how the county staff investigated the complaint. “I am bringing it forward so the public understands that the accusations made were baseless,” Hiller wrote in an email to the Daily News. The Medical Career Institute, run by Miami-Dade firefighter Richard Gonzalez, offers a variety of classes to prepare study for state licenses in emergency service jobs, including classes for students to get their paramedic’s license.
The school is licensed by the state Department of Heath. Allegations against the school were raised at the Nov. 9 Collier commission meeting after Page compiled a list of sworn statements from students in the class that he said pointed to testing inconsistencies that may have violated state statute.
According to the statements, several firefighters, including ones from North Naples and Naples, were given a study guide to prepare for an exam on patient drug calculations for that class, while other students in the class weren’t given the guide.
That study guide, the sworn statements said, turned out to contain the questions on the actual exam given. Commissioners voted 4-1, with Tom Henning dissenting, to send a complaint to the state for investigation. Voting in favor, Commissioner Fred Coyle said the commission wasn’t casting judgment on the guilt of the parties in question, but felt the allegations were serious enough to prompt an investigation.
However, Gonzalez and several firefighters at the meeting dismissed the inquiry as retaliation over past disputes between Collier EMS and the North Naples Fire Control and Rescue District. Gonzalez reported test questions were given to students instead of a study guide by mistake and he later administered a retest.
He said he also self-reported the mistake to the Bureau of EMS. Eloy Ricardo, a North Naples firefighter and a student in the class in question, was mentioned by name in the allegations.
He said accusations were unfairly brought to the public’s attention because he was employed by the North Naples fire district, which was at odds at the time with Collier EMS over expanding the level of medical services. This wasn’t the first time Collier firefighters have been accused of paramedic test cheating.
In May 2009, Page and County Emergency Medical Director Dr. Robert Tober accused firefighters in East Naples and North Naples of cheating on medical protocol exams.
State EMS investigators declined to investigate that complaint, and internal investigations by the two departments cleared firefighters of wrongdoing. Hiller said this time, the county government owes the accused an acknowledgment of their innocence and an apology. Hiller, who sided with the North Naples fire district in its pursuit to offer increased medical services, said she has been trying to catch up on how the county conducted its investigation into this complaint.
She said she’s heard concerns that affidavits from firefighters were coerced. However, she said she’s been hampered in her efforts to learn about the investigation because County Attorney Jeffrey Klatzkow has refused to give her the affidavits on which the complaint was based.
Hiller said she has a right to see those documents. However, in an email exchange between the commissioner and county attorney, Klatzkow contends the documents can’t be released because they are part of an investigation.
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