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Roland Imperial v. Drapeau8/27/1998
court. HO 14-408(a).
If at least one of the responding EMTs was an EMT-Paramedic, a classification more highly skilled than EMT-Cardiac, HO 14-305 would apply. An EMT-Paramedic must be certified by the P.Q.A. Board. Violations by an EMT-Paramedic of 14-305, or of any regulation adopted thereunder, are subject to the same sanctions as are EMTs-Cardiac, and EMTs-Paramedic enjoy the same procedural safeguards under HO 14-405 as do EMTs-Cardiac.
In his letter to Imperial the BCCRS Chief describes the two responding members of the rescue squad as "Emergency Medical Technicians-Ambulance personnel [(EMT-A)]." An EMT-A is an individual "who has been tested and certified by MIEMSS to provide basic life support." Maryland Regs. Code tit. 10, 32.06.01B(6) (1980). EMT-A is a less skilled classification than EMT-Cardiac. MIEMSS establishes the qualifications for EMTs-A. See MIEMSS, EMT-A Testing & Certification Policies 1-10 (July 1989). MIEMSS also determines whether an EMT-A should be decertified. One ground for decertification is " ractice or performance [by an EMT-A] of any medical act not specified in the MIEMSS course objectives, or protocols as developed and/or approved by MIEMSS, consistent with the highest level of certification held by the prehospital care provider." Id. 10.1.5. "Omission of a medical act specified in the MIEMSS course objectives or protocols" is also a ground for decertification by MIEMSS. Id. 10.1.6.
The MIEMSS decertification procedure begins with the referral of any complaint that has been received to the local Emergency Medical System Authority. Id. 10. The local authority's investigation "shall be made confidentially," although the individual against whom the complaint has been filed "shall be notified at the investigation stage that the investigation is in process." Id. The local Emergency Medical System Authority submits findings and a recommendation to the Director of MIEMSS. Before the Director of MIEMSS may order any disciplinary action, written notice, stating the issues or charges, must be sent by certified mail to the subject of the complaint and to the local authority at least thirty days before the hearing. Id. Any hearings before the Director of MIEMSS are to be conducted in accordance with the Maryland Administrative Procedure Act. Id.
Drapeau contends that the absolute privilege for witness testimony, as extended, cannot reach the instant matter because Imperial's complaint was not made directly to the appropriate body exercising disciplinary authority. We reject so technical a restriction on the privilege. The ordinary citizen need not, at the peril of defending a defamation action, sort through the complexities of governmental organization in a system of dual sovereigns, with county, municipal, and special taxing district overlays on the State component. This case is particularly illustrative. As we have seen above, in 1995, the power to discipline EMTs was divided between two agencies, both of the State, whose authority to discipline depended on the level of certification of the EMT. A complainant cannot be expected to discern those nuances. Rather, it was appropriate for Imperial to invoke the "constituent service" aspect of representative government in order to have the complaint reach the governmental agency that was charged with the responsibility to investigate. Cf. Narez v. Wilson, 591 F.2d 459, 461 & n.9 (8th Cir. 1979) (interpreting a Marine's threat to "write his Congressman" as a request to have pending disciplinary action reviewed by an administrative board); Ward v. United States, 1 Cl. Ct. 46, 48 (1982) (Coast Guard officer who was denied retirement benefits was informed that he could "write his Congressman" for
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