“We felt the issue was handled at the time and it was closed,’’ Middlemiss said in an interview with the Globe.
Culleton was the department’s recertification coordinator. Last year, the state said he and another instructor falsified training records for more than 200 emergency medical workers around the region.
Julia Hurley , a spokeswoman with the state Department of Public Health, which oversees the emergency medical services office, said Middlemiss did not have an obligation to report being offered a cardiopulmonary resuscitation card by Culleton in 2008. She said Middlemiss informed the department of the event this year.
But Raymond Sayeg, a lawyer for one of several Lexington firefighters seeking to clear their names after they allegedly accepted false cards from Culleton in 2010, said it is “really a prob lematic situation’’ that the chief did not notify Lexington EMTs that he had direct knowledge that Culleton was “at best’’ cutting corners as the department’s certification coordinator.
“This was the person that the chief designated to keep track of all of the certifications,’’ Sayeg said. “[Culleton’s] integrity, his ability to complete that job himself not only impacted himself, but it impacted [other Lexington firefighters].’’
Culleton, who was a 24-year veteran of the Lexington Fire Department, could not be reached for comment. He retired while the town of Lexington was in the middle of disciplinary proceedings against him. The state cleared him of some allegations in 2009, but his name resurfaced when the state launched a separate investigation in 2010.
Along with being the Lexington recertification coordinator, Culleton was president of a state-accredited EMT training company, Life Saving Maneuvers, in Billerica. Culleton and another instructor, Leo Nault, were accused in 2010 of falsifying records for 213 emergency medics, at times giving credit for training classes that never took place. The certifications ranged from basic refresher courses to advanced cardiac life support cards, according to a state report obtained by the Globe in June 2010.
