If you are a student in an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) training course, you know first-hand how important hands-on training is for the successful completion of your curriculum. While many EMT courses include a certain amount of classroom-type work, almost all of them rely on an extensive amount of on-the-job, internship-type training before a student is qualified to be able to take their state's EMT license examination.
While these internships provide great opportunities for learning as well as for meeting your state's EMT practical training requirement, they can also derail your career as an EMT if a misconduct allegation is made against you. It's important to have a good understanding of the types of issues that can result in a misconduct allegation and what can happen as a result. The Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team has created this summary as a resource to help EMTs in training who find themselves facing misconduct allegations.
The EMT Internship Requirement
As an intensely hands-on profession, all EMT training programs include some sort of internship or practical on-the-job training requirement. The programs vary widely and are offered by a range of organizations, including hospitals, fire departments, health departments, community or four-year colleges, and private training companies. Internships are typically with local fire departments, hospitals, and ambulance services.
What Kinds of Discipline Can EMT Students Encounter?
As a hands-on profession, often operating in rushed or extreme circumstances, EMTs face unique challenges when it comes to their interactions with sick or injured patients. Decisions must be made quickly, and sometimes the patient refuses to cooperate. On top of this, EMTs face the typical workplace interaction issues that most employees face. Some of the misconduct issues that may arise for EMT interns are as follows:
- Workplace issues. EMT interns who violate their organization's human resources, training, or emergency response and treatment protocols could be subject to misconduct allegations that could result in suspension or expulsion from the internship program.
- Training program issues. If the internship is part of a training program, particularly one that is operated by a college or training academy, the EMT intern will typically be subject to that program's honor code or code of ethics. Misconduct that is alleged to have occurred in a sponsored internship program could result in discipline by the school or training academy as well.
What Kinds of Conduct Can Result in Discipline?
The typical kinds of misconduct that EMT interns face include the following:
- Sexual harassment. This can include harassment of fellow EMT interns as well as of employees working with the organization that you are interning with. These types of claims can range from verbal harassment to improper contact to violation of employee relationship guidelines. It's a good idea to review your organization's employee or intern handbook carefully so that you are aware of any rules in place that relate to interactions between employees, volunteers, or interns.
- Substance abuse. The work of an EMT intern can sometimes mean the difference between life and death for an injured or sick patient. That is why substance abuse claims can be so serious. These can relate to anything from alcohol or marijuana to any drug (illegal or prescription) that affects your ability to do your job.
- Fraud. A fraud misconduct claim can relate to anything from making claims that procedures were performed that were not to taking equipment or supplies from the organization.
- Patient abuse. This can include claims of physical or sexual abuse and are a particular danger for EMT interns, who often need to have their hands on patients in order to do their jobs properly. In addition, not every patient is cooperative, some because a condition prevents them from understanding what is going on, others because law enforcement is involved, and the injured person may be in custody.
How are Misconduct Allegations Resolved?
This is highly dependent on the type of organization and the nature of the misconduct claims. But generally speaking, for more serious claims, the process may go something like this:
- Initial investigation. This is designed to weed out misconduct allegations that are more properly described as patient complaints. The organization will review the complaint to determine whether it's one that should be investigated further.
- Detailed investigation. If a misconduct allegation appears to be serious enough, the organization will typically investigate it further. This can include interviewing you as well as others who may have information about the misconduct claim. The investigator may also review emails, texts, and other types of records and might also interview the person who made the complaint.
- Offer to resolve the matter. Sometimes the organization will approach you with an offer to resolve the matter without a formal hearing. This typically requires you to accept the organization's fact summary and also accept the organization's response to the misconduct. This could be anything ranging from a verbal warning to dismissal, which is why it can be very helpful to have the help of the Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team at this point (if not earlier). They understand these processes and have the experience to help advise you whether it makes sense to accept the offer or to reject it and move to a hearing stage.
- Hearing. If the matter isn't resolved, it may proceed to a hearing. A typical hearing will include witness testimony and written photographic, audio, or video evidence. If your misconduct allegation reaches the hearing stage, you need the help of an experienced student defense attorney-advisor who can make sure that your rights are respected and who can help defend you from the allegations. The Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team has been doing this for students all over the US for years, and they are ready to help you if you find yourself in this kind of difficult situation.
- Ruling (and appeal). After the hearing, there will be some sort of ruling and, if it goes against you, a decision about what the consequences will be. In some cases, if the ruling is not in your favor, you may have the chance to appeal it. Typically appeals will not retry the matter but will only address whether the hearing panel made mistakes in how it handled the hearing.
The Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team Can Help
If you are an EMT trainee facing disciplinary proceedings because of something that allegedly happened during an internship, don't face these serious allegations by yourself! They could derail your plans to become an EMT and could make it more difficult for you to be licensed if you are able to make it through the program. The Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team understands how difficult it can be to deal with internship misconduct allegations; they've been helping students who face misconduct claims all over the US for many years. They can help you too.
Don't delay – call the Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team today at 888.535.3686, or use our online contact form to set up a confidential consultation. We are here to listen and to help!
