An update: Apparently one instructor is now the focus of the investigation as it appears he provided the material to the cadets.

EMS Cheating Probe Focuses On Instructor

The person familiar with the probe said an investigator proclaimed, “Now that we know one instructor is responsible for this incident, my problem is to determine how deep it goes.”

City fire chief suspends EMS training after cheating revealed

Baltimore fire officials suspended emergency medical training and locked down an instructional facility Monday after revelations that some student firefighters had cheated on a state licensing exam, officials said.

“This is a serious mistake that tarnishes the reputation of the hundreds of professional and dedicated men and women who work so hard for us,” Fire Chief James S. Clack said in a statement.

Mistake? I wouldn’t quite call it a mistake. Lapse of judgment, maybe, but not a mistake. This was something done purposefully to achieve a certification not earned, but stolen.

The students had obtained details about the mock victim and the scenario, but it is unclear how many students were involve

Because we know that in real life, every medical scenario is going to be provided to you in advance.

Twenty students who took the test on June 14 will be required to repeat it, Clack said. The class is expected to graduate in August, and there is no indication that the incident would delay the class’ graduation, a Fire Department spokesman said.

Think about the message this is sending. “We take this very seriously {wink}, but we’ll let you retest {nod}, and if you pass you get to be real life firefighters. {guffaw}. That tells the public exactly how serious you are about this theft of tax dollars.

Way back in 2007, there was another cheating investigation but,

Clack, who became chief after the cheating came to light, ultimately decided to accept the scores of the students who had been accused of cheating.

Here’s my solution. If the investigation reveals that any of the cadets cheated on the exam, fire them. Baltimore can probably find twenty people who won’t cheat. The Mayor should ask for the resignation of the Fire Chief. He’s shown twice that he does not take allegations of cheating seriously, therefore he has no credibility. The entire fire department, especially the EMS division is now compromised in the eyes of the public, nothing short of a new chief will fix that.

Former Chief William J. Goodwin Jr., who retired several months after Wilson’s death, said that he was required to hire only city residents during his tenure — and found that city high school graduates struggled with the written exams.

“We had to do some remedial science and English classes, because that’s what the test is basically,” he said.

That tells us all we need to know about the Baltimore Public Schools and the wisdom of residency requirements for hiring.

Here is another story on the investigation,

Fire Academy Program Suspended Amid Cheating Probe

“When something like this happens, it reflects on the whole agency, reflects on me,” Baltimore City Fire Department Chief James Clacksaid. “It reflects on the fire department and the city. Unfortunately, somebody decided to do something they shouldn’t have, and we are all going to pay the price for that.”

Damn right, Chief. All the more reason for you to go.

Another victory for fire based EMS. What the city does with the cadets, any instructors involved in this mess, and the chief will say a lot about how serious they are about EMS.