|
DENVER - Veteran paramedic Bob Loop wasn't treating patients while he was uncertified to hold his job, instead he was responsible for planning for the Democratic National Convention. Loop's falsified paramedic certificate was discovered when Denver Health checked its records against a state database. He lost his job a month later, on Oct. 29. According to the Department of Public Health, use of that online verification technique has increased since a 9NEWS report in June on a paramedic imposter. Todd Teel worked for American Medical Response in Denver for 17 months without proper training or certification. The company never performed the routine online check. Last week, Teel turned himself in to police on charges of forgery, criminal impersonation and practicing medicine without a license. He will appear in court next week. Colorado Attorney General John Suthers initiated the investigation after seeing the 9NEWS report. "The response from the original story that came out was significant," said Randy Kuykendall, chief of the state's Emergency Medical and Trauma Services Section. Kuykendall says since Teel's case was made public, only one additional instance of falsified credentials has been discovered: that of Denver Health EMS Operations Supervisor Bob Loop. When the state began an investigation into Loop's credentials in September, Denver Health moved him to an EMS dispatch position that did not require a paramedic certification. Loop had a distinguished 20-year career in emergency medical services. Kuykendall said Loop allowed his certification to lapse, then compounded that relatively minor mistake with a much larger one: providing the state a fake certificate. "He made a bad choice," said Kuykendall, who described Loop's actions and subsequent dismissal as "a great loss" to emergency medicine in Denver. Kuykendall said Loop was working full-time on preparations for the Democratic National Convention during the time in which he was uncertified. In a written statement, Denver Health said it "never knowingly allows uncertified paramedics, or any other uncertified or unlicensed health care professional, to care for patients." Kuykendall said he hopes the cases of Teel and Loop send a strong message that the EMS industry is determined to prove to the public that it can be trusted. An important first step, Kukendall said, is ensuring that EMS personnel have the training and certifications they are required to have. "No different than, I don't think, anyone would want to go to an uncertified teacher for an education, or a non-certified airline pilot to fly their airplane," Kuykendall said. "This is that same process." SOURCE
Trackback(0)
 |
TrackBack URI for this entry
Subscribe to this comment's feed
