DUI Guide for Firefighters and EMTs

A single misdemeanor DUI conviction is not on the state list that forces a county to take away an EMT card, but a DUI can still lead to discipline. Right now, several separate cases may be moving at the same time: the court case, the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) case, your fire department case, and your EMT certificate or paramedic license issue. This page takes them one at a time.

Will I lose my EMT card or paramedic license over this?

You usually do not lose an EMT card or paramedic license over one misdemeanor DUI, because a single misdemeanor DUI is not on the mandatory take away list. Still, you need to protect it from the start. An arrest is the beginning of the problem, but it is not the same as a conviction or discipline against your certificate or license.

Your EMT card is really an EMT certificate. That certificate is what lets you work as an EMT in California. Revocation means an agency takes the certificate away, suspension means the agency pauses it for a time, and probation means you may keep it with conditions.

A paramedic license is different. Many firefighters hold an EMT certificate, a paramedic license, or both. If you hold both, one DUI arrest can create concern for both credentials, but the decision makers are not the same.

After a DUI arrest, four things may be happening at once: a criminal court case, a driver license case at the DMV, an internal fire department employment case, and an EMT certificate or paramedic license issue.

Those four cases do not all follow the same rules. Winning, losing, or settling one does not automatically decide the others. Still, the words and records from one case can show up in another, so the first week should be handled carefully.

Who decides my EMT card or paramedic license?

Your EMT card is decided by your local emergency medical services agency, while a paramedic license is decided by the state EMS Authority. Emergency medical services is often shortened to EMS. The local EMS agency is usually at the county level, and the law often calls it a local emergency medical services agency, or LEMSA.

For an EMT certificate, the key person is the medical director of your county EMS agency. That medical director can deny, suspend, or revoke an EMT certificate when the law allows it. There is no state nursing board, medical board, or Department of Consumer Affairs board deciding your EMT certificate.

For a paramedic license, the decision is with the California Emergency Medical Services Authority. I will call it the state EMS Authority here. That is a state agency, not your county EMS agency.

This is why online articles can scare people for the wrong reason. Nurses, doctors, pharmacists, and many other licensed health workers deal with Department of Consumer Affairs boards, and those boards have their own laws, forms, and habits. That board system does not decide an EMT certificate.

If you are a firefighter EMT, the county EMS agency is the certificate agency. If you are a firefighter paramedic, the state EMS Authority is the license agency. If you hold both, both agencies may matter, but each one has its own job.

Is DUI on the list that forces the county to take my EMT card?

No, a misdemeanor alcohol DUI is not on the state list that forces the county medical director to deny or revoke an EMT certificate. The current rule is Title 22, California Code of Regulations, section 100108.06. Older articles or forms may show the former number, section 100214.3, because the rule changed number on January 1, 2025.

The mandatory list is serious, but it is narrower than many EMTs fear. It includes these convictions or status points:

• Sex offenses that require registration.
• Murder, attempted murder, or murder for hire.
• Two or more felony convictions.
• Being on parole or probation for a felony.
• Manslaughter or involuntary manslaughter when release from custody was within the past 15 years.
• An offense that the law allows to be punished as a felony when release from custody was within the past 10 years.
• Two or more drug related misdemeanors within 5 years.
• Two or more misdemeanors within 5 years involving force, threat, violence, or intimidation.
• A theft related misdemeanor within 5 years.

A misdemeanor is a lower level crime than a felony. A felony is more serious and can carry state prison punishment. In California, a first, second, or third DUI with no injury is normally a misdemeanor.

That is why a first misdemeanor alcohol DUI is not one of the convictions that forces the county to take away an EMT certificate. The same is usually true for a second or third DUI with no injury, because those are normally misdemeanors too.

The felony question needs more care because a DUI causing injury can be charged as a felony, a fourth DUI within 10 years can also be charged as a felony, and the regulation looks at possible state prison punishment.

So if your case has an injury, a fourth within 10 years, or any felony filing, do not assume the misdemeanor DUI answer applies. The charge level and the possible punishment need to be read before anyone gives the county EMS agency an answer.

If DUI is not on the forced take away list, can the agency still discipline me?

Yes, even when DUI is off the mandatory EMT list, the agency can still look at the facts and decide whether discipline is proper. Health and Safety Code section 1798.200(c) lists conduct that can lead to denial, suspension, revocation, or probation of an EMT certificate or paramedic license.

Two parts of that law matter most after a DUI. First, the agency may look at whether there was a conviction of a crime substantially related to the work of prehospital personnel. In plain English, that means the agency asks whether the crime is closely tied to the skills, duties, judgment, and safety expected from EMTs and paramedics.

Second, the agency may look at addiction to, excessive use of, or misuse of alcoholic beverages, narcotics, dangerous drugs, or controlled substances. That does not mean every DUI proves addiction. It means the agency can ask whether the facts show a deeper alcohol or drug safety concern.

This is a judgment call, not an automatic result, because the agency looks at the conviction, the facts, your work role, and what the record says about risk. The California EMS Authority also publishes recommended disciplinary guidelines that agencies use when deciding what kind of discipline fits a case.

The medical director has a limited power to suspend an EMT certificate before a hearing. Before that happens, the conduct must be grounds for revocation, and letting the person keep working without restriction must pose an imminent threat, which means an immediate danger to public health or safety.

You also have a right to contest a denial or revocation in a hearing. If an EMT certificate is denied or revoked, the person cannot apply to another certifying entity for at least 12 months. That is a real consequence, so the certificate issue should be treated as part of the DUI defense from the beginning.

What happens with my fire department, and will it tell the EMS agency?

Your fire department can run its own investigation, and in certain discipline events it must notify your county EMS agency. Health and Safety Code section 1798.200(a) allows an EMT employer, such as a fire department or public safety agency, to investigate and discipline for the same kinds of conduct that can affect an EMT certificate.

The department case is separate from the criminal case, the DMV case, and the EMT certificate case, but your department may still care about off duty conduct and department policy. It may also look at public trust, driving duties, patient care, and honesty in reports.

Here is the kind of situation I see. A county firefighter EMT is arrested for DUI on a Saturday night while off duty in a personal car. Court has not started yet, the DMV deadline is already running, and on Monday the department may ask questions under its own rules. The county EMS agency may not have acted on the EMT certificate.

If the department fires you, suspends you, or removes you from EMT duties for a disciplinary cause, the employer must notify the county EMS medical director within 3 days. The same 3 day notice applies if you resign after being told about an upcoming investigation. The department disciplinary plan may also recommend that the medical director act against your EMT certificate.

That means the department result can reach the certificate agency, but it does not mean the fire chief decides your EMT certificate. It means the department and the county EMS agency can end up looking at some of the same facts.

Your words matter here. What you tell a supervisor, what you write in an internal statement, and what you put on a form can be used outside the department. Before you give a written or recorded statement about the arrest, talk to a lawyer about how the court case, DMV case, job case, and EMT or paramedic issue fit together.

Can I still drive to work, the engine, or the ambulance?

You can keep driving during the 30 days covered by the pink DS-367 if your California license was valid when you were arrested, but work driving can change later. The DS-367 is the pink paper the officer usually gives after a DUI arrest, and for the 30 days it covers, it is a full, unrestricted California driver license.

That is true even if the officer says you refused the chemical test. A chemical test is the breath or blood test after arrest, and refusal may create later problems, but it does not make the first 30 days under the DS-367 restricted.

Restrictions, an ignition interlock device, or any other limit on driving come only with the suspension that starts on day 31. An ignition interlock device is a breath device installed in a vehicle that requires a clean breath sample before the vehicle starts.

Your department may still make work decisions before day 31. Firefighters and EMTs drive apparatus and emergency vehicles. A driver license suspension can take someone off driving duties even when the EMT certificate is untouched.

So separate the questions. Can you drive your own car to work under the DS-367 during the first 30 days? If your California license was valid when arrested, yes. Can you drive the engine or ambulance at work? That depends on your department, your assignment, and your driver license status as the case moves forward.

What do I have to do in the next 10 days?

You have 10 days from the arrest date to ask the DMV for an administrative hearing. An administrative hearing is the DMV hearing where the DMV decides whether to suspend your California driver license from the arrest.

If you miss the 10 day request, the DMV suspension goes forward without that hearing. The court date on your citation does not protect the DMV deadline, and waiting for the first court date can be a serious mistake because the DMV deadline usually comes first.

When the hearing is requested, you can also request the DMV discovery packet. Discovery means the papers and evidence the other side has, and the DMV packet contains the officer's paperwork that normally arrives before the first court date.

That packet can help more than the license hearing. It can show what the officer claims happened, what time events happened, what test was used, and whether the paperwork has problems. It can also help shape what you do, and do not say, in any work or certificate setting.

The first 10 days are also when you should slow down your statements. You may feel pressure to explain yourself to a captain, chief, partner, union rep, or county form. Honesty is important, but guessing, minimizing, or giving a detailed statement before the records are reviewed can hurt you.

Does a wet reckless help my EMT certificate or paramedic license?

A wet reckless can help the EMT or paramedic record because it changes the conviction from DUI to reckless driving, but it is still a criminal conviction. Vehicle Code section 23103.5 is the California wet reckless law.

A wet reckless is a reduced charge that can resolve a DUI case. It is called wet because alcohol is still part of the record, and it is called reckless because the conviction is for reckless driving, not DUI.

That difference can matter when a county EMS agency or the state EMS Authority later reads the court record. A conviction for reckless driving with an alcohol note does not read the same as a DUI conviction. It may give the agency a different record to evaluate.

It does not make the arrest disappear, stop every agency question, or guarantee that the county EMS agency or state EMS Authority will take no action.

The prosecutor decides whether to offer a wet reckless, and the judge decides whether to accept the plea, which is the deal that resolves the criminal charge in court. Before any plea is entered, the record should be read with the EMT certificate, paramedic license, fire department, and DMV consequences in mind.

Can I clean up my record later, and will that fix the EMT side?

A later court dismissal can help your criminal record, but it does not automatically fix your EMT certificate or paramedic license issue. Penal Code section 1203.4 is the California law people often call expungement.

That law can let a court dismiss a conviction after probation is successfully finished. Probation is the court supervision period after a conviction, and in many DUI cases the record cleanup step comes later, after the sentence and probation terms are completed.

A dismissal under this law helps the criminal record, but it does not undo the conviction for every purpose or guarantee that a licensing or certifying agency will ignore the conviction. The agency may still ask what happened, what the court record shows, and whether there is any safety concern.

There is another point for EMTs. The mandatory EMT list does not apply to convictions pardoned by the Governor. A court dismissal under the record cleanup law is not a Governor's pardon. The mandatory rule also does not say that expungement removes a conviction from the list.

So record cleanup can be useful, but it is not the first tool. The first tool is the defense and outcome in the DUI case itself. The later cleanup step should be planned, but it should not replace careful work on the charge, the DMV hearing, and any agency question now.

Will the EMS agency see this on a background check?

Assume the EMS agency will see a conviction during an EMT certification background check. EMT certification in California requires a full criminal history background check through the California Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, often called the FBI.

The Department of Justice is the state criminal history agency, and the FBI is the federal criminal history agency. When fingerprints and criminal history are reviewed for EMT certification, the applicant's conviction history is checked against state standards.

Do not plan on hiding a conviction from the county EMS agency. Do not guess on a form. The safer approach is to know exactly what the court record says, answer the exact question asked, and avoid adding facts that have not been checked against the police reports and DMV packet.

If you are already certified, background checks and renewal questions can still bring the court record back into view. The right answer depends on the exact wording of the question. An arrest, a pending charge, a conviction, and a later dismissal are not the same thing.

What should I do this week, in order?

This week, do the DMV step first, protect your job statements, and make sure the court case is being handled with your EMS credential in mind.

1. Find the pink DS-367, your citation, any jail release papers, and any tow or property papers. Keep them together and take photos of them.
2. Calendar 10 days from the arrest date. Before that deadline, request the DMV administrative hearing and ask for the DMV discovery packet.
3. Write a private timeline for your lawyer. Include the stop, the test, the times you remember, what you drank, what you ate, and what the officer said. Do not turn that timeline in to your department.
4. Do not give a written or recorded statement about the arrest until you have talked through the court, DMV, department, and credential issues. If work asks for a report, get advice on the exact wording first.
5. Check your department policy, union agreement, and any direct order about notice after an arrest. Follow real work rules, but do not add extra admissions that were not asked for.
6. If you are a public agency firefighter and an interview may lead to punitive action, ask about having a representative present under Government Code section 3253(i).
7. Do not assume nurse, doctor, or pharmacist DUI advice applies to an EMT card. Your county EMS agency and the state EMS Authority have their own rules.
8. If your case involves injury, a fourth DUI within 10 years, or any felony filing, treat the EMT and paramedic risk as higher and get the charge level reviewed before any plea.
9. Before accepting any plea offer, ask how the exact conviction will read to your county EMS agency, the state EMS Authority, and your fire department.
10. Keep proof of responsible steps you take after the arrest, such as any alcohol assessment or education you choose to do. Save records, but do not send them anywhere until the strategy is clear.