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Unit 5 Investigation Prompts State To Administer New Exam
POSTED: 6:25 p.m. CST February 11, 2004
UPDATED: 12:00 p.m. CST February 12, 2004
Story by nbc5.com CHICAGO -- For the past two years, nearly 99 percent of Chicago firefighters passed the EMT test, but a Unit 5 investigation raised concerns that firefighters were cheating because they had access to old exams. The state used a new emergency medical technician test three weeks ago and the results have arrived.
Almost 40 percent of Chicago firefighters who took the EMT exam three weeks ago failed, reports NBC5's Mary Ann Ahern. Those results raise more questions about whether firefighter EMTs cheated on past tests and whether they are truly qualified to do their jobs.
"Do we need to retest everybody?" asked Alderman Isaac Carothers. "We need to ensure, first of all, the safety of the citizens of Chicago."
Last October, Unit 5 first uncovered allegations of cheating at the Chicago Fire Academy.
"The instructors at the fire academy take great pride in being able to brag that when they send firefighters into the EMT testing that all of them pass," a firefighter said in October.
Sources said documents with questions and answers have been passed around the academy for three years. At least 60 of the questions appear to be from state EMT certification tests, sources said. Those sources said 60 questions would be all a firefighter needs to pass the test.
As a result of the Unit 5 investigation, a new national test was given to the latest class. In the past two years, 1 percent to 3 percent of firefighters taking the state test failed. The failure rate on the national test was 38 percent.
"You want to keep the integrity of the exam," Mayor Richard M. Daley said.
Not only did more firefighters fail the new test, they also did worse than the national average. They had a higher failure rate than many other fire departments across the country.
"You're talking about public safety, here," Carothers said. "You're talking about people's lives. So I think it's very important that people understand exactly what they're doing."
Fire Commissioner James Joyce said it is absolute nonsense that cheating took place on the previous tests. He says having old exams to study from is not illegal. That isn't true, according to the Illinois Department of Health, which administers the test. No one is supposed to have old copies of tests.
The 60 firefighters who did not pass the exam are studying to retake it. They will not be able to work the street until they pass this new exam.
Copyright 2004 by NBC5.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
