By Laura French
HUNTERDON COUNTY, N.J. — A New Jersey EMT arrested last year for allegedly filming fellow rescue squad members in station bathrooms has had his license suspended by the state health department.
Douglas Gimson, 31, was arrested in March and later charged with third-degree and fourth-degree invasion of privacy after allegedly using a hidden Go-Pro camera to film people in the bathrooms and showers of the Lambertville-New Hope Ambulance & Rescue Squad and Flemington-Raritan Rescue Squad headquarters, prosecutors confirmed last month. Gimson was previously a member of both agencies.
The New Jersey Department of Health suspended Gimson’s EMT license late last month, telling him in a Dec. 29 letter that his continued certification “constitutes an immediate and serious threat to public health, safety and welfare,” MyCentralJersey.com reported.
The letter noted the trust that the public has in EMS providers and how providers must maintain this trust and remain law-abiding to be effective caregivers. The letter also orders Gimson to surrender his certification cards to state officials while the state Office of Emergency Medical Services investigates the allegations and determines if further action is necessary.
Prosecutors say at least 13 people were filmed by hidden cameras allegedly placed by Gimson at Lambertville-New Hope Ambulance & Rescue Squad headquarters between November 2016 and May 2017, and at least two people were filmed at the Flemington-Raritan Rescue Squad headquarters between November 2019 and March 2020.
Gimson was arrested after a woman at Flemington-Raritan Rescue Squad reported to police she spotted someone filming her in the bathroom with a Go-Pro on March 19, 2020, and then saw Gimson and the Go-Pro in Gimson’s vehicle when she exited the bathroom.
Investigators said images of women in rescue squad bathrooms and of Gimson setting up the cameras in bathroom ceilings were found on SD cards and electronics seized from Gimson.