** Long criminal record doesn’t prevent Iowa man from working as EMT, authorities say
** Texas medic arrested after allegedly driving ambulance while intoxicated
UNITED STATES NEWS
** He may have wracked up 23 separate convictions for such things as burglary and forgery, but one Sioux County, Iowa man is still fit to be an EMT/firefighter. That is the word from the Des Moines Register (Clark Kauffman/October 21) which quoted from a statement from the state Department of Public Health that said Patrick Birgess posed only a minimal risk to the public. Along with the above mentioned tags, Birgess has also been convicted of theft, escape and other infractions. His EMS work was sanctioned in April by the state EMS bureau, though he remains on probation due to his criminal record and a history of drug addiction. Former National EMS Management Association president Skip Kirkwood said given Birgess’ record he should be neither certified nor employed in EMS. Iowa Department of Public Health spokesman Ken Sharp, however, disagreed, saying Birgess had been free of criminal convictions for around nine years. Birgess’ colleagues at the Hawarden Fire Department, meanwhile, voted him 2012’s Fireman of the Year.
** A Lubbock, Texas EMT was arrested Saturday for driving his EMS unit while intoxicated. KCBD (October 19) said Sundown EMS medic Daniel MacDonald, 40, was taken into custody by police in the evening hours after a tip-off from another ambulance service. According to the news station, MacDonald was arrested at the city’s University Medical Center after a patient transport.
