Longview Fire Chief J.P. Steelman says his department is investigating after screenshots of text messages and photos detailing EMS patients and service calls were posted to social media.

On Aug. 3, a Facebook user by the name of "Anton Mee" posted screenshots of texts that appear to show photos of a screen with a patient's private information. In the Facebook post, the information is marked out of the photos.

Another screenshot shows the sender followed the photos with a text to someone that stated, "Going to a murder suicide."

The Facebook post read: "Imaging calling 911 in Longview .. to get help and the paramedic's blasting your business to friends and family ... sometimes before you can even get help."

In another posted screenshot, a text describes being sent to an EMS call involving the child of a nurse who "got into" his mother's cocaine. The text identifies the nurse's last name, which is also marked out in the Facebook post. Another photo appears to show a patient in the back of an ambulance.

Steelman said he is aware of the social media posts and the photos and text messages contained in them.

He said the department is investigating the incident and the photos and text messages in the posts were sent by a firefighter/medic who has since resigned.

Steelman declined to identify the former employee.

He said anyone employed by the fire department is obligated to follow the laws of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act — or HIPAA — which is common in all health care practices. This knowledge is covered in basic level medical certification training required by the department, he said.

The incident has been reported to the Texas Department of State Health Services in accordance with required self-reporting standards in regards to potential HIPAA violations, Steelman said. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services also has been made aware of the potential breach of patient privacy laws, he added.

"In our code of conduct, as well as in the city policy, it states all employees shall follow local and state and federal laws," Steelman said. "This being a potential HIPAA violation, it's a federal violation."

The Longview Fire Department's Code of Conduct, last revised in 2018, explains the purpose of the code is "to provide employees of the Longview Fire Department with a standard of conduct that is expected of each employee, uniformed and non-uniformed."

Those standards include the instructions that all employees shall "conduct themselves professionally in a manner that promotes order and reflects positively on the Department."

Another directive in the LFD Code of Conducts states that all employees shall not "engage in any conduct or activity on or off duty, which could be considered, 'Conduct unbecoming of an employee of the Longview Fire Department.' "