Rabbi Ezra Max
The state has pulled the plug on the recent
EMT-certification test scores of 25 people because of blatant cheating, The
Post has learned.
Rabbi Ezra Max, who runs a Brooklyn volunteer ambulance
corps and a “Kosher Coaching” counseling business, was accused of snapping
photos of the exam with his cellphone.
He was photographed by a fellow test-taker who sent
incriminating photos to the state Health Department, triggering an
investigation.
“It is highly possible that a cellphone was utilized to take
pictures or otherwise record the examination booklet,” Andrew Johnson, deputy
director of the state’s Bureau of Emergency Services, said in a letter to city
EMS officials.
The photos also show test-takers sitting elbow-to-elbow at
tables at Universal Emergency Care Training in Brooklyn, the testing site.
“Students were allowed to sit too close to one another and
were looking at other students’ answer sheets,” Johnson wrote.
The misconduct led the state to void the exam results, but
no one was otherwise disciplined, officials said.
The state also changed the exam’s format and questions
because it feared illicit copies could be used to help other test-takers cheat.
Besides requiring exams for new EMTs, the state mandates
medics — whether employed by fire departments, hospitals, private firms or
volunteer corps — to pass the tests every three years to ensure their
competency.
Cellphones are not allowed in the exams.
Max denied wrongdoing.
“I didn’t take any pictures of the exam. I don’t know why
anybody would make such an accusation,” he said.
Asked whether he had a cellphone at the exam, Max said, “No
comment.”
Max also refused to say whether he is certified as an EMT.
He is currently not certified, a state spokesman said.
Max is listed on documents as one of four co-owners of NYC
Community EMS, which took over a private firm in April 2012.
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