Blank EMT Certificates Missing From Colorado Health Department

DENVER (AP) -- More than 120 blank certificates for emergency medical technicians have disappeared from a state office, prompting a warning to fire departments and ambulance companies to watch for forgeries.

The state Department of Public Health and Environment said Tuesday that 124 of the blank, numbered forms were discovered missing last week when employees were issuing them to people who had passed certification tests.

Police in Glendale, an enclave in Denver where the health department has offices, were investigating.

``This is a public office. People come and go,'' department spokeswoman Cindy Parmenter said.

The certificates disappeared less than two weeks after an independent audit found that 20 people who were issued EMT licenses between 2001 and 2003 had failed the certification test. The audit said 11,554 certificates were issued in that period.

The auditor called for an overhaul of the EMT testing system, and two employees in the certification program were placed on administrative leave.

The disappearance of the certificates was discovered because they were numbered, a change from previous practice prompted an internal investigation into the improperly issued licenses, said Dr. Ned Calonge, the state's chief medical officer.

All the missing certificates were for basic EMTs, typically firefighters and other first responders. The department will not issue certificates for basic, intermediate or paramedic EMTs until security is tightened.

All current EMT certificates will be reissued on watermarked paper, which is harder to copy for forgeries.

The missing certificates were numbered B000335 through B000458.