March 19--SILVERDALE -- Central Kitsap Fire and Rescue suspended a firefighter who is the local union vice president for three days without pay, claiming he shared protected patient information with the public.
The union argues that patient privacy was not violated and is protesting the punishment with an unfair labor practice complaint against the fire district.
The moves come as the firefighter's union continues a campaign against CKFR's decision to reduce the district's minimum number of firefighters on call at one time, which results in the fire district's Chico station to go without staffing when too many personnel call in sick or are on vacation.
The latest volley by the union was a letter written by Justin Brown, a district paramedic, and submitted to print publications by Ronny Smith, union vice president. The letter, part of a "minutes matter" campaign, detailed two recent medical calls in the Chico area in which career staffers responded.
The letter included specific efforts paramedics undertook to stabilize a patient in cardiac arrest and who was receiving CPR when crews arrived. It included the time of the call, the date and the street but did not include a house number.
The letter also mentioned another "critical call" crews responded to the next morning involving "an elderly male experiencing respiratory failure." A time, but no location was mentioned in the letter.
Early reports indicated that both patients survived. The letter questions whether the outcome would have been the same if career staffers had not been at the Chico station.
"The call illustrates the importance of early 911 activation, rapid response and effective CPR and early defibrillation in patient survival," the letter stated.
Smith provided the letter to Kitsap Fire Watch, an online group of union firefighters and community members, which posted the letter on its website and Facebook page Feb. 4.
Shortly after it appeared online, CKFR officials responded to the group, claiming the letter violated federal HIPAA law, which governs the privacy of individual's medical records. It threatened legal action if it were not removed from online publications. Kitsap Fire Watch deleted the letter from its sites.
HIPAA standards apply to all organizations that have electronic medical records, such as hospitals, ambulance services and other health care providers. Violators can be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison and fined up to $250,000 in criminal penalties.
The union says in its complaint that CKFR Battalion Chief Steve Hostetter asked Brown to write the letter, and that he knew that Brown gave the information to Smith and another union representative, Chris Bigelow.
Brown received a written reprimand from CKFR on March 13.
CKFR did not take any disciplinary action against Hostetter, but Smith was told he could face termination. He was eventually given a three-day suspension.
Fire Chief Scott Weninger said the district believed there had been a breach in HIPAA, but he wouldn't respond to specific questions of how.
"Other details are not available due to pending litigation," he said.
Michele Earl-Hubbard, an attorney with the Allied Law Group in Seattle, said the letter did not violate HIPAA because it did not specifically name patients.
"I think you have to give the name," she said about HIPAA violations. "They really have to connect the dots."
Allied Law Group specializes in public record and open-government law.
"You have to be able to tie that (medical) information back to a person," she said. "The fact there are medical calls isn't and shouldn't be a secret."
The union's complaint was filed with the state's Public Employment Relations Commission, which will decide the next step in the dispute.
Copyright 2014 - Kitsap Sun, Bremerton, Wash.