Naval Station Newport falsified training records
By: Chloe Leshner
cleshner@abc6.com
@ChloeLeshner
NEWPORT, R.I. (WLNE) — A local firefighter is blowing the whistle on fire and EMS management at the Newport Naval Station. That man revealing Navy employees were intentionally making up training records.
Investigators sent this letter to President Trump Tuesday. It says the whistle blower’s revelations suggest that first responders were not trained to properly handle some emergency situations.
A 2017 investigation found that Navy employees at the Newport station were keeping fake records of fire and emergency department trainings.
"Hundreds of trainings across a variety of different employees were found to be recorded as having been completed that were actually not completed," says David Tuteur, an attorney with the Office of Special Counsel.
He tells ABC 6 News in a FaceTime interview this posed a potential danger to public safety.
"If any of those situations were to come up and these emergency response personnel were sent out under the belief that they would be able to address those problems and they were not, that could lead to major injuries or a failure to contain the emergency," he says.
The whistle blower is George Haywood, a firefighter with 20 years of experience. He said he discovered that his personnel file included 60 completed trainings that he didn’t attend. Some of them held on days he wasn’t even working.
"It’s a decision that isn’t made easily but it’s critically important for the accountability of our government and to maintain safety throughout the Navy," says Tuteur.
The Fire Chief and Fire Training Officer left their positions after the investigation that’s leading to record–keeping changes in the Navy nationwide.
"To make sure that if a training is stated to have been completed that it was completed and can be signed off on by multiple people," says Tuteur of the changes.
ABC 6 News reached out to the Naval Station in Newport several times today for a comment, they haven’t returned our requests.
(C) WLNE/ABC 6 2018
