The Lowell Sun
The investigation into false certifications given to more than 200 emergency medical technicians throughout the state revealed a serious breach of ethics and the repercussions felt by those involved in the deception must be equally grave.
However, it also exposed a need for the state to improve the system it uses to verify certifications received by EMTs and other medical professionals. Clearly, the “honor” system is not enough.
The probe ultimately revealed that 207 EMTs received falsified certificates stating they had completed refresher courses required by the state even though they had not attended any sessions.
Lexington firefighter and Billerica resident Mark Culleton is charged with issuing hundreds of false certifications. He has surrendered his certification and is barred from ever again training others.
Another trainer implicated in the scheme, Leo Nault, was terminated by Trinity EMS and had his certifications suspended for life.
The ambulance company made the right decision in firing Nault. We believe Culleton should face the same penalty in Lexington.
Nault had been on workers’ compensation for more than a year, but was running his own state-certified EMT training company during that time. As we now know, however, many of the EMTs allegedly trained by Nault never attended any sessions.
Residents calling for assistance in times of medical distress must be able to have faith in both the professionals coming to treat them and in the system that makes sure those professionals are properly trained. Anyone who knowingly participates in such a scam should face severe disciplinary action, including termination of employment.
After hearing of the problems regarding training services provided by Culleton, Trinity did an in-house investigation and informed Massachusetts Department of Public Health officials as to the findings. This prompted the state to widen its probe into the EMT-certification scheme. The Trinity EMTs with false certifications were immediately suspended without pay. They were required to be retrained and recertified by the state. Massachusetts DPH has since suspended the certifications of some EMTs for 45 days, and most for nine months. They may lose their jobs permanently as their positions are now filled by employees with active, and state-approved, certifications.
Trinity has brought all training, including refresher courses, in-house so company officials will know exactly who attends every session. The state plans to conduct random inspections of the training courses to make certain classes are actually being held and that registered EMTs are in attendance. These are prudent decisions.
State officials also plan to mandate ethics training classes for EMTs. We understand the motive, but if an EMT doesn’t already recognize that lying about attending a training course is wrong, no seminar is going to hammer that message home.
DPH officials said there have been no complaints in any of the communities impacted regarding patient care related to the certification scheme. That’s an important point, but it is also crucial that state officials work to rebuild the certification system so Massachusetts residents can again have complete confidence in it.
Safeguards must be implemented so this type of unethical certification scheme can never happen again.
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