Hub firefighters get six-month extension to pass EMT test

By Andrew Ryan, Globe Staff

Seven Boston firefighters returned to work this week after resigning last month because they failed to become certified emergency medical technicians.

Under an agreement pressed by Suffolk Superior Court Judge Regina Quinlan, the 7 firefighters have six more months to pass the EMT test. The firefighters’ union had gone to court to fight for the jobs.

“They have six months to complete the EMT course and get their state certification,” said Steve MacDonald, spokesman for the Boston Fire Department. “This is part of the job. We have so many medical calls we respond to that the department feels it is important to be trained as emergency medical technicians.”

When Boston hired 50 firefighter recruits in 2010, it made all of them sign a letter acknowledging they would be fired if they did not earn their EMT certificate in a year. Firefighters have been required to become EMTs for 15 years, but this was the first time that the city enforced the requirement.

The issue came under greater scrutiny last year after more than 200 emergency medics across Massachusetts falsified training records when they renewed their certificates, including almost two dozen Boston firefighters.

Probational firefighters receive EMT training at the city fire academy. This year, the 2010 recruits were reminded a month ago that they must earn an EMT certificate to remain employed. The department offered a tutoring course, but none of the seven attended, Fire Commissioner Roderick Fraser told the Globe last month.

But instead of firing the seven recruits who failed the EMT test, the city gave them the option of resigning so they could reapply to the department once they completed the requirement, Fraser said.

The International Association of Fire Fighters Local 718, however, accused the city of carrying out a vendetta against rank-and-file firefighters and wasting taxpayer dollars because it said overtime pay would be required to fill the vacancies left by the seven firefighters who resigned.

Local 718 President Richard Paris described the settlement as a victory for the seven firefighters who got their jobs back. They were identified in court documents as Christopher McCarron, Sean Milliken, Jean Joseph, Clinton Clarke, Gabriel Clark, Theron Houlder, and Richard Berger.

“My understanding is that all seven have enrolled in EMT classes,” MacDonald said.