By Andrew McIntosh
Sacramento Bee
Copyright 2008 The Sacramento Bee
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California legislators are reviving efforts to repair the state’s oversight of emergency medical technicians, undeterred by the governor’s recent veto of legislation requiring mandatory background checks for the state’s 70,000 EMTs.
Assembly and Senate health committees have scheduled hearings for January to evaluate rival bills. Each aims to bolster the county-run EMT certification system with universal background checks and a state license registry similar to what exists for more highly skilled paramedics.
The renewed legislative efforts come as the state Emergency Medical Services Authority boss officially steps down today and authorities in three counties investigate and try to punish rogue rescuers who had slipped through the cracks.
In October, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed Assembly Bill 941, saying that while he embraced the idea of background checks, the legislation was flawed. In his veto message, Schwarzenegger reiterated critics’ claims that it fell short of protecting the public, while significantly limiting public disclosure of disciplinary cases.
Some suggested that last-minute changes to the bill and its subsequent demise triggered the departure of Dr. Cesar Aristeiguieta from his job as director of the Emergency Medical Services Authority. The doctor denied those suggestions, however, saying his resignation was a financial decision.
“Personally, I would like to have seen it fixed already, but I’m encouraged by the progress made,” Aristeiguieta said.
As the state Health and Human Services Agency oversees the search for his successor, legislators are pressing ahead with fresh attempts to fix the state’s patchwork system for overseeing both paramedics and EMTs.
One measure, Assembly Bill 1086, was amended by Bay Area Assemblyman Alberto Torrico, D-Newark, in mid-December and transformed into a bill to fix the EMT system. It was sent to the Assembly Health Committee, whose members are expected to discuss its details on Jan. 15.
Torrico’s office was closed for the holidays and he could not be reached for comment.
Senate Bill 254, introduced nearly a year ago by Senator Roy Ashburn, R-Bakersfield, had been on hold pending the fate of AB 941. After AB 941 was vetoed, SB 254 was brought back and is set to come before the Senate Health Committee on Jan. 9.
“The issues involving (emergency medical services) and reforms needed are bigger than any one person,” Ashburn said. “I wish Dr. Cesar well and I hope his replacement will help us finish the job.”
The legislative efforts were prompted by a Bee investigation of problem paramedics and EMTs that appeared earlier this year.
Published beginning in January, the stories reported that lax state and county oversight had failed to adequately detect theft, substance abuse and falsified training and education records among paramedics and EMTs.
Some EMTs remained on the job despite serious criminal records, The Bee found. Rescuers with troubled pasts were turning to counties that did not perform background checks to get EMT cards that allowed them to work anywhere in the state.
Instead of waiting on the state to act, local authorities have moved ahead to deal with some of the problems The Bee uncovered:
• The San Francisco Fire Department fired EMT Timothy L. Gutierrez, who remained on the job despite arrests on suspicion of child sexual abuse, indecent exposure and restraining orders for allegedly stalking women. His termination was reported to the San Francisco Fire Commission in November, meeting minutes show.
• Robert Eugene Chaney was fired by ambulance giant American Medical Response and is slated to go on trial in January in Santa Clara County on felony perjury charges, though a plea deal is reportedly being discussed. Chaney is accused of forging an EMT certification card from the Sierra Sacramento EMS Agency and remained on the job after a conviction for secretly videotaping a woman in a shower in Santa Cruz County.
• James Campbell was arrested by the Orange County District Attorney’s Office in September on suspicion of impersonating a Los Angeles County firefighter paramedic, traveling to major disasters and fires across the United States and illegally having guns in his possession.
Campbell lost his paramedic licenses in California and Arizona after he was convicted for a burlgary and stealing credit cards from patients’ wallets in Arizona in 1981 and 1982 – and The Bee reported how he hid that past from California authorities.
Deputy District Attorney Susan Schroeder said the Orange County’s probe of Campbell continues. So far, no charges have been filed.
Messages left for Campbell at his Frontline Safety Products business in Huntington Beach were not returned.
Though Campbell is barred from working in two states, he managed to get a paramedic license from Florida’s Department of Health that remained active as of Friday.