A Suffolk County Grand Jury recently indicted a Cambridge man and four executives of LifeLine Ambulance in Woburn for their alleged involvement with falsifying EMT training records as part of a well-publicized scandal.
Thomas Codair Sr., 49, of Cambridge, is alleged to be the main person responsible for the controversy. Codair previously worked as an emergency medical technician at Armstrong Ambulance and taught EMT refresher courses to police officers and firefighters from 2006 through 2009. He is accused of falsely re-certifying dozens of EMTs who did not complete or even attend the training.
Codair is not employed by LifeLine, but four of his co-defendants run the company.
The investigation began in December 2008 and a Suffolk County Grand Jury returned indictments against Codair and four LifeLine Ambulance executives on April 28, 2011. In addition to Codair, these executives include Brian Connor, 49, of Arlington, the president of LifeLine; and Jonathan Kulis, 37, of Wilmington; Michael McPherson, 38, of Billerica; and Brian O’Connor, 39, of Woburn, all vice presidents of the company.
All of the indicted men are charged with Office of Emergency Medical Services (OEMS) violation, which is making false statements aiding evasion of OEMS requirements. They are also charged with conspiracy to commit OEMS violation.
Once EMTs are initially certified, OEMS requires them to renew their certificates every two years. These classes are intended to provide additional training and education to help EMTs remain up-to-date with new developments in emergency medical services.
Allegedly, Codair permitted EMTs to sign rosters for these courses without actually attending the course and then submitted them to OEMS, which then qualified the EMTs for recertification.
Authorities allege that Connor, Kulis, McPherson and O’Connor did not attend any classes, but signed attendance rosters for a refresher course in 2007. Subsequently, Codair is believed to have submitted the rosters to OEMS for credit.
Each of the men will be arraigned in Suffolk Superior Court at a later date.
Source: Woburn Advocate
CORRECTION: Because of a reporting error, it was incorrectly stated that Codair is employed by LifeLine Ambulance in a prior version of this story. He is not, but his co-defendants are.