Copyright 2006 The Baltimore Sun Company
By JUSTIN FENTON
The Baltimore Sun
When the calls came in requesting emergency medical help, police say 24-year-old Rob Smith would throw on an Abingdon EMS coat, slide on a pair of bunker pants, grab his fire radio and head out to the scene to assist with patient care.
But Smith wasn’t a member of the Abingdon Fire Company nor was he licensed through the state to provide emergency medical services, police said.
This week, Harford County sheriff’s officers arrested Robert Joseph Smith of the first block of Stevens Circle in Aberdeen on charges of impersonating an emergency medical services provider and theft.
The sheriff’s office said he acknowledged responding to emergency calls and taking equipment in May from the firehouse.
On at least two occasions, the office said, Smith turned out in full Abingdon Fire Company gear and worked with patients, including signing paperwork at a hospital for a patient transported there by him along with certified emergency personnel, according to charging documents.
“He had all his bases covered,” said Rich Gardiner, a county volunteer fire departments spokesman. “He had all the gear, the identification and information you would need to know. You can’t make this stuff up.”
A check of the fire company’s records shows that Smith’s mother had been an EMS member at Abingdon, and that Smith was a fire company member for a short time before being suspended in 1998 for stealing a pager, documents show. There was no record of him training as an emergency medical technician through the fire company.
Gardiner said it was not clear how many incidents Smith responded to, but that he had worked with fire companies throughout the county.
Although Smith seemed to know the protocol, firefighters became suspicious three weeks ago when Smith had difficulty answering casual questions, Gardiner said.
“It’s concerning because we don’t want people to doubt the authenticity of the service we’re providing,” Gardiner said. “We want to reassure the public that this is an isolated incident.”