National Reg ?

[bvfdfirefighter]

There is a person on our dept who wants to become a paramedic. He is a good emt very skilled and personally many think would make a awsome medic. His prob is 15 years or so he got a class 5 felony Does that make it impossible for him to become regist If not nationally will it hurt his state. I ask because the dept pays for this class and it is quite expensive. So if anyone can answer it would be great, also it was for a gun charge of poss of a short shot gun

[N2DFire]

Local requirements & restrictions will vary from state to state (and possibly even by locality) so you'll need to check your state laws first.

All I can find on the NR site (www.nremt.org) is that he must declare the felony on his application and provide "official documentation that fully describes the offense, current status, and disposition of the case."

In the case you site, he would be passable by Virginia Law

12 VAC 5-31-910 states in part that:

EMS personnel shall meet and maintain compliance with the following general requirements:

1. Has never been convicted or found guilty of any crime involving sexual misconduct where the lack of affirmative consent by the victim is an element of the crime, such as forcible rape.

2. Has never been convicted of a felony involving the sexual or physical abuse of children, the elderly or the infirm, such as sexual misconduct with a child, making or distributing child pornography or using a child in a sexual display, incest involving a child, or assault on an elderly or infirm person.

3. Has never been convicted or found guilty of any crime (including abuse, neglect, theft from, or financial exploitation) of a person entrusted to his care or protection in which the victim is a patient or is a resident of a health care facility.

4. Has never been convicted or found guilty of any crime involving the use, possession, or distribution of illegal drugs except that the person is eligible for affiliation five years after the date of final release if no additional crimes of this type have been committed during that time.

5. Has never been convicted or found guilty of any other act that is a felony except that the felon is eligible for affiliation five years after the date of final release if no additional felonies have been committed during that time.

6. Is not currently under any disciplinary or enforcement action from another state EMS office or other recognized state or national healthcare provider licensing or certifying body. Personnel subject to these disciplinary or enforcement actions may be eligible for certification provided there have been no further disciplinary or enforcement actions for five years prior to application for certification in Virginia.

7. Has never been subject to a permanent revocation of license or certification by another state EMS office or other recognized state or national healthcare provider licensing or certifying body.

Full text: http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?000+reg+12VAC5-31-910

Also being a firearms "enthusiast" myself I could (without further details) give your friend the benefit of the doubt. Making a shotgun (or any type of long gun) too short to meet minimum BATFE requirements can be a simple & honest mistake.

If he were eligible for certification / membership in my state (which he is) and given the nature & age of the felony, I'd have no problem taking him on as a member and/or paying for his school.

Hope at least some of this was helpful.

[SafetyPro]

Unless your state does it diffently than out here, I'd think that if he's currently certified as an EMT, it should be the same for becoming a Paramedic. We have the same background check requirements for both.

Don't know about NR.

[Weruj1]

good post Stephen !