Madeira Beach employee is fired

An 18-year veteran firefighter loses his job after having lost his license as a paramedic.

By SHEILA MULLANE ESTRADA

© St. Petersburg Times, published July 19, 2000

MADEIRA BEACH -- Veteran firefighter Larry Wade, whose license as a paramedic was revoked due to incompetence, was fired Monday after 18 years on the job. Wade said he'll seek reinstatement through formal arbitration.

The Pinellas County medical examiner took Wade's license in June after a series of medical care incidents, including a citation for giving a patient an overdose of morphine.

"Your actions have placed the (Fire) Department in an extremely difficult position," City Manager Mike Bonfield wrote Monday in a termination letter to Wade. "I must concur with the recommendation of Chief (Brian) Turini and terminate your employment."

Wade had hoped the city would give him enough time -- about six months -- to reinstate his license. He asked for either a demotion to EMT (emergency medical technician) or temporary EMT status.

Bonfield said he fired Wade when he considered the small size of the city's Fire Department and the need to have six licensed paramedics available for duty.

"There is no doubt that Larry made some mistakes, but other paramedics were on the same calls and their actions were not questioned," said union representative Rick Feinberg, president of the St. Petersburg Association of Firefighters. "This is a man who has spent 18 years as a firefighter and he gets his walking papers because the city won't give him time to get his credentials (as a paramedic). We are definitely going to seek arbitration to overturn this termination."

Feinberg said the process could take up to six months.

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