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DENVER -- A man accused of working as a paramedic for 17 months without proper training or certification is due in court next week. Todd Teel turned himself in to police last week on charges of forgery, criminal impersonation and practicing medicine without a license. A telephone number for Teel could not be found. KUSA-TV in Denver has reported that Teel worked for Greenwood Village-based American Medical Response from July 2006 until December 2007. Though he was a certified emergency medical technician, the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians said Teel was not a certified paramedic, KUSA reported.

Entry-level EMT certification requires far less medical knowledge than the paramedic certification, which is generally offered as a two-year degree program. Randy Kuykendall, chief of the state's Emergency Medical and Trauma Services Section, said only one other instance of falsified credentials has been discovered since Teel's case. Denver Health EMS Operations Supervisor Bob Loop allowed his certification to lapse, then provided the state a fake certificate, Kuykendall said. Loop lost his job Oct. 29. "He made a bad choice," Kuykendall said. He said Loop was not treating patients during the time he was uncertified. In a written statement, Denver Health said it never knowingly allows uncertified or unlicensed health care professionals care for patients.

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