By EMS1 Staff
SALINAS, Calif. — Monterey County is claiming that documents were falsified after all paramedics working for a fire department failed to keep up with certification requirements.
KSBW reported that the Salinas Fire Department is in hot water after the Monterey County Emergency Medical Services Department sent a letter to Salinas city manager Ray Corpuz alleging that all 23 paramedics in the department fell behind on their training requirements.
The letter also states that several firefighters and some management members falsified documents to make it look like training was up to date.
The claims were made after a county audit of the fire department, but Interim Fire Chief Brett Loomis said he is unaware that any fraud has occurred.
“To my knowledge, no, that has not happened,” he said. “If we have indications that any of our employees intentionally falsified any documents, we’re going to do a due process investigation, we’re going to gather all the facts, and we are going to address that appropriately.”
Chief Loomis added that he was aware of training lapses between 2015 and 2017, when certification courses were rescheduled, but he said he did not know it impacted certification.
“We believed that other training that we were providing was meeting that requirement, we made a mistake; it wasn’t meeting that requirement,” Chief Loomis said.
Corpuz said certification has been pulled for Salinas and also threatened to pull a paramedic services agreement the county has with the department.
The allegations are currently under investigation.