Seven Fannin County paramedic and EMT firefighters will have to retest with the Georgia Firefighters Standards and Training Council (GFSTC) in order to receive the proper certificate due to an error, which occurred when certificate paperwork was submitted by the county’s fire department.
Fannin County EMA Director Robert Graham explained that the firefighters have already received their training and taken the test, however the wrong paperwork was sent into GFSTC.
“When they sent their paperwork in, it got sent in, because they were still volunteers or something at the time, as a volunteer thing, and it should have been sent in as a certified thing,” Graham said. “I think it’s mainly just a paperwork problem that’s going to have to be resolved.”
GFSTC Executive Director Gordon Henderson has been in contact with the fire department and has scheduled new test dates for October 23 and 24 in order to get the firefighters the proper certificate.
“The GFSTC is working with the Fannin County Fire Department to correct some issues that they found concerning some of their firefighters,” Henderson said. “These issues concern some paperwork that was not sent into the GFSTC for whatever reason. The firefighters have received their training and will be tested on I believe the dates are October 23 through the 24, 2020.
All firefighters who pass the test will either receive state certification on a suppression firefighter certificate depending on what level they are testing.”
According to Fire Chief Larry Thomas, the certificate paperwork is the responsibility of the department’s training officer, which is currently Dale Stiles, however Thomas reviews all of the paperwork before it is sent.
“I don’t know how that got overlooked,” Thomas said. “They actually got their training when they were becoming a volunteer, and they have since been hired on, and that certification never was changed. It’s still the same test, and I’ve actually talked to the state and they are good with it. They said the only thing we’ll have to do is retest and then their certifications will change.”
Thomas said this improper certification does not affect the employees’ pension, which was confirmed by representatives from the Georgia Firefighters’ Pension Fund.