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CAPITOL
N.Y. has most cases of EMT molestation
BY RICHARD RICHTMYER The Associated Press

    New York tops the list of states with emergency medical services providers accused of sexual misconduct over the past 18 months, but officials in charge of certifying them don’t think the screening system is at fault.
    State regulations forbid anyone who has been convicted or is facing charges of murder, manslaughter, assault, sexual abuse, theft, robbery, drug abuse or drug sales from being certified or re-certified as an emergency medical services provider.
    Over the past 18 months, at least 129 ambulance attendants across the U.S. have been accused of sexrelated crimes on duty or off, an investigation by The Associated Press found. Some of them molested patients in the back of an ambulance.
    Across the U.S., emergency medical technicians have been accused in recent months of such crimes as rape, soliciting minors over the Internet and possession of child porn, according to an AP survey of the state agencies that oversee those professions. In New York, offi cials aren’t allowed to conduct a background check unless they receive a complaint against the applicant. Otherwise, applicants need only sign a sworn statement affirming that they have no convictions.
    In the past 18 months, at least 12 state-certified emergency medical services providers have been convicted of sex crimes, according to Health Department records released under a Freedom of Information Law request. The charges range from 1st degree rape to possessing child pornography and child endangerment.
    At least two of those convictions occurred before the offender was certified, said Edward Wronski, director of the Health Department’s Bureau of Emergency Medical Services.
    Wronski points out that there are roughly 58,000 certified EMTs in New York, most of whom are volunteers, and none of the 12 who were convicted committed their sex offenses while providing emergency medical services.
    The problem with sex offenders isn’t big enough to impose stricter screening policies, which likely dissuade many would-be EMTs from applying and prompt others to drop out, he said.
    “They’re mostly volunteers, and do we ask them to submit to a criminal background check and fi ngerprinting?” he said. “That would be onerous in our......................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....amp;EntityId=Ar01502

That's a statistic that NYS should be real proud of, it goes along with the rest of the corruption and abuses going on in this state. Everytime I get my tax bill it feels like I've been violated.

Hey...NYS is #1 in everything else, why not this too? But I always wondered who thinks of checking on these statistics and what agency provides them?

We can background check anyone and unless they are caught......they live among us.......