Nearly one in four Compton firefighters is working without a permit to perform emergency medical care, a key credential required by other local fire agencies, a Los Angeles Times investigation has found.
Out of 74 firefighters at the Compton Fire Department, 17 lack a valid emergency medical technician, or EMT, card, according to city records obtained via the California Public Records Act. That amounts to 23% of the agency’s rank and file.
Top officials are scrambling to certify rescuers who lost their permits in recent years, according to Fire Chief Jon Thompson.
“It’s something that never happened before and it’ll never happen again,” Thompson said. “It’s being cleaned up.”
The uncertified list ranges from firefighters in the lowest ranks up to Thompson himself, a former paramedic, city data show.
To become an EMT in California, students must learn how to handle patients with severe trauma, properly dress wounds and deliver shocks to cardiac arrest victims. A regime of refresher courses is required every two years.
Ten of the uncertified firefighters are still stationed at the city’s four firehouses, but limited to an assisting role when responding to 911 calls for medical help, he said. The other seven are higher-ranking officials who perform office work.
Thompson said no harm has come to the public. Uncertified firefighters were ordered several months ago to qualify for EMT cards by the end of May, he said.
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