Volunteers Divided On Background Checks

But law has turned up eight felons since July 1 BOISE Volunteer emergency personnel are torn over whether they need criminal background checks paid for out of their own pockets.

Most of those who testified Thursday and Friday before the Senate Health and Welfare Committee supported the checks, which have turned up a rapist, an arsonist and six other felons since July 1.

But others said they existed on tight budgets and kept watch over their own ranks. The panel delayed action until later in the session.

At issue is a new Health and Welfare Department requirement for background checks on all new emergency personnel, including ski patrols, ambulance workers and search-and-rescue teams.

Lawmakers will decide whether to permit the investigations to continue. The checks, paid for by volunteers, cost $34.

“We’re willing to spend more than that on gasoline to save someone we don’t know,” said Steve Foster, an Island Park emergency medical technician who supports the checks.

Boise County volunteers, who operate on a $99,000 budget, do not see a reason for them, particularly if they have gone through them already for concealed weapons permits or other reasons, said supervisor and County Commissioner John Dyer.

“This ‘one size fits all’ does not work for rural areas,” he said.

About 300 new EMTs, 75 advanced EMTs and 48 paramedics would be affected by the rule each year, said Dia Gainor, chief of Health and Welfare’s emergency medical services bureau.

So far, 8 of 106 EMT applicants have had relevant criminal convictions, Gainor said.

“We weren’t prepared for this rate of return.”

She said the bureau does not have funding for checks. Some local governments pay the fee.

“If it’s a question of unfunded mandates, it doesn’t have a ghost of a chance anywhere,” noted Senate Health and Welfare Chairman Grant Ipsen, R-Boise.