EMT Impersonator

July 15, 2004

Reminds me of a couple of situations we had here.

There was one young man who had inquired several times about what he needed to

do to become a volunteer with EMS. We explained the requirements, gave him

applications several times, etc. He never returned an application. He once

tried to get us to give him a shirt and pager so he could " help us out " . We

didn't do it. Then he started showing up at calls. The first time it happened

the call was at a private residence. The circumstances were such, and his

conduct was such, that we thought he was an employee of the patient who lived in

another house on the property. The patient had assumed that he was with us.

Then, over a period of several months, one of our volunteers encountered him at

several calls, all at private homes. She put two and two together and and we

realized we had a problem. We sent him a letter by certified mail, and put a

copy of the letter in the ambulance. The next time we encountered him at a

scene, I handed him the copy. The letter didn't say anything about where he

could or could not go or what he could or could not do as a private citizen. We

simply pointed out that since he had not followed through on the application

process he was not a member of our department and therefore had no authority or

right to present himself as such. We also pointed out that he was therefore not

covered under our insurance and we were not responsible should he be injured at

a scene, etc., etc. He quit showing up.

The other was a young man who was mildly retarded. He occasionally showed up at

EMS scenes but his real love was the volunteer fire department. He rode a

bicycle, wore an orange safety vest, and carried a scanner. (Get a good visual

of that emergency response!) The VFD let him act in the capacity of an

auxiliary member. He would hang out at the station with the guys, worked his

tail off cleaning and washing trucks, went to some fire scenes with the

auxiliary to help take care of the firefighters, and so forth. When they made a

call he would go to the fire station (right across the street from us) and " keep

an eye on the station " while they were gone, and he always came over to say

hello. He was as happy as a lark and the firefighters were really nice to

him--made him feel special. He would occasionally show up on EMS scenes -

always in public (not private) places - and would help us carry equipment and

such. When things would seem to be getting out of hand (for example, him coming

to scenes where his safety might be at risk) we would talk to a local police

officer who had known his family for years. The officer would talk to his

guardian (grandmother) and the family would rein him in a little. A couple of

years ago, the grandmother died and the young man had to move to another town to

live with other relatives. We miss him.

Maxine Pate

hire-Pattison EMS

--- coolclay84 > wrote:

>

> I've got a question. Where I live there is a young

> man who constantly

> runs around in a TSTC EMS uniform.

>

July 15, 2004

If you feed a stray, it comes back for more.

_____

From: Mike , LP

Sent: Wednesday, July 14, 2004 11:41 AM

To:

Subject: Re: Re: EMT Impersonator

--- Rob wrote:

> Mike is (as usual) correct when he observes that LE won't take an

> interest possibly, " ...because they've had significantly more

> interactions

> with him and understand that he's " just a wannabe " and not a threat. "

> Hassle this guy enough and it may be all it takes to turn him from a

> wannabe into an enemy. Not a good idea.

Well thanks, Rob! FWIW, it's probably got a lot to do with my political

leanings and background... you don't meet too many Liberterian police

officers. Then again, I consider it a source of pride to both enforce the

laws *AND* uphold the constitution of this great State and of our nation.

Too many cops get off on the enforce the laws part of the job and forget

about the rest of it... although I can hear the die-hard liberals and

conservatives groaning at me already!

With regards to all sorts of problem people - avoiding them is usually a

good way to get rid of them. They find someone who reacts more to their

liking at their presence, actions, etc... and attach to them instead.

Mike

__________________________________________________

July 15, 2004

If you feed a stray, it comes back for more.

_____

From: Mike , LP

Sent: Wednesday, July 14, 2004 11:41 AM

To:

Subject: Re: Re: EMT Impersonator

--- Rob wrote:

> Mike is (as usual) correct when he observes that LE won't take an

> interest possibly, " ...because they've had significantly more

> interactions

> with him and understand that he's " just a wannabe " and not a threat. "

> Hassle this guy enough and it may be all it takes to turn him from a

> wannabe into an enemy. Not a good idea.

Well thanks, Rob! FWIW, it's probably got a lot to do with my political

leanings and background... you don't meet too many Liberterian police

officers. Then again, I consider it a source of pride to both enforce the

laws *AND* uphold the constitution of this great State and of our nation.

Too many cops get off on the enforce the laws part of the job and forget

about the rest of it... although I can hear the die-hard liberals and

conservatives groaning at me already!

With regards to all sorts of problem people - avoiding them is usually a

good way to get rid of them. They find someone who reacts more to their

liking at their presence, actions, etc... and attach to them instead.

Mike

__________________________________________________

July 15, 2004

Cutting brake lines, loosening lug nuts, running in front of cars so they'll

swerve, dropping objects off of overpasses, removing stop signs from busy

intersections, creating oil slicks, blah blah blah. I'm not accusing this

guy, just answering the question.

_____

From: ,

Sent: Wednesday, July 14, 2004 12:22 PM

To:

Subject: RE: Re: EMT Impersonator

Another thought... people who hang at fire scenes like this sometimes

(and this is an extreme case) are arsonists.... what's the EMS

equivalent of that???

B. , AAS, LP

Baylor Regional Medical Center at Grapevine

EMS Educator

Baylor EMS Medical Control

1601 Lancaster Drive Suite #10

Grapevine, Tx 76051-3300

Office

Direct Line

Fax

Cell

Pager

Re: EMT Impersonator

> ...I do know that he has gone into some of the local bars here trying

> to pick up women.

Damn! There's a law against that now? Who woulda thunk it?

This guy sounds like a nutcase wannabe who may be a threat to your ego.

However, I have yet to hear how he realistically presents a legal or

operational threat. All this speculative innuendo and conjecture about

his

intentions isn't helping your case.

Mike is (as usual) correct when he observes that LE won't take an

interest possibly, " ...because they've had significantly more

interactions

with him and understand that he's " just a wannabe " and not a threat. "

Hassle this guy enough and it may be all it takes to turn him from a

wannabe

into an enemy. Not a good idea.

What exactly is a TSTC EMS uniform, anyhow?

Rob

July 18, 2004

,

There's no doubt that your scene jumper is impersonating an EMT. The

TSTC EMS uniform certainly gives that impression to the public-

whether on an EMS scene or at Taco Bell, he looks like an EMT. He

may have some argument or defense if the TSTC uniform is the " EMS

Student " uniform, but if any patch or insignia reads " Emergency

Medical Service " he is representing himself as such. You say your

imposter has also verbally identified himself as an EMT. I suppose

anyone can wear the pants with scissors, but the patches have got to

go.

Here's the rule on impersonating EMS:

Health and Safety Code, Chapter 773.064. CRIMINAL PENALTIES.

(a) A person commits an offense if the person knowingly practices

as, attempts to practice as, or represents himself to be an

emergency medical technician-paramedic, emergency medical technician-

intermediate, emergency medical technician, emergency care

attendant, or licensed paramedic and the person does not hold an

appropriate certificate issued by the department under this chapter.

An offense under this subsection is a Class A misdemeanor.

(HSC 773.003 also identifies " Emergency Medical Services

personnel as those listed above, so simply wearing a generic EMS

insignia would constitute the same)

You could compose a " cease and desist " letter to this individual,

and include a copy of the HSC Chapter. If you prefer to present the

problem to your local law enforcement, I would submit it in writing,

and include a copy of the rule so they'll know what they can arrest

him for.

I would not tolerate his presence on any scene wearing a uniform or

otherwise representing himself as EMS. As far as whether his

presence constitutes interference with your duties- that is entirely

up to you. You and other emergency personnel have privileged access

to that scene. You may grant or deny access to others (citizens/

bystanders) if they are helpful to you and don't interfere.

We've got a local " wannabe " around here. He rides an ATV 4-wheeler

with lights & a siren, but only around his property & not on public

roadways. At the HS football games, he and a buddy run around with

walkie-talkies pretending to be secret agents or something. I find

that to be pretty wierd, but harmless.

For awhile, another local was showing up at accident scenes. He

wanted to be helpful, and never interfered, so I didn't say anything

to him- until one night he walked into a patient's residence and

stated " I'm with them " (us). I explained the " privileged access "

thing to him, and he hasn't done it again.

Good luck,

Ron

>

> I've got a question. Where I live there is a young man who

constantly

> runs around in a TSTC EMS uniform. He was once a student, but has

> failed the basic course numerous times. He walks around town with

the

> shirt and ems pants in addition to that, he wears about 14 pairs

of

> sisccors, and a glove pouch. Recently there was a funeral in which

> several (30-40) police, fire, and ems personel attended. This

young

> man, made his way onto the grounds, and was walking around amongst

> everyone else. (Almost all of the emergency personel were fully

> uniformed.) At one point he attempted to make conversation with

the

> widow, also it looked as though he was trying to sneak a peak at

the

> body. I can't even believe someone would do such a thing.

> Then upon departure for the funeral procession, he was standing

on

> the corner in a " Secret Service " type pose, with what appeared to

be

> a cell phone ear piece in his ear (with no cell phone), which was

> running down his shirt. Obviously trying to impersonate someone

> (Possibly the DPS officer blocking traffic near where he was).

There

> have been numerous times where he has showed up on scenes, and is

> always misleading people to what he is or does. There have also

have

> been times that he was arrested for trying to arrest someone or

> detain some people, I'm not really sure which one. This has been

> going on for quite sometime and when I was at the funeral I

thought

> that this was just totaly uncalled for. Is there anything that can

be

> done? How much will arresting him really help? This gentleman is

not

> certified, and I pray to god he never does get certified. So I'm

> assuming that this is out of TDH's reach. Anyone have any

> suggestions? And have any of you dealt with this kind of thing

> before? What happened in thoose instances? Thanks for your help.

>

> -, EMT-I

>

> PS: He is NOT associated with any type of EMS, Fire, or Police

> orginaization. He holds no certification of any type.

July 18, 2004