The Bismarck Tribune
BISMARCK, ND — North Dakota does not require criminal background checks on applications for emergency medical workers, the state emergency medical services division director says. He knows of one suspension in the past 18 months involving a sex-related crime.
Tim Meyer, who heads North Dakota’s Division of Emergency Medical Services and Trauma, said the most recent case involved an EMT who was suspended after the agency got a tip the person was facing a child molestation charge outside the EMT job. Meyer said he knows of no cases in which an EMT in the state has been accused of a sex-related crime while on duty.
A national investigation by The Associated Press found that at least at least 129 ambulance attendants across the U.S. have been accused of sex-related crimes over the past 18 months.,
North Dakota rules say the division “can deny or revoke a certification or license for someone who has been charged or convicted of a felony which has direct bearing on a person’s ability to serve the public,” Meyer said. Instructors evaluate people who train to become EMTs, he said.