GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2007
HOUSE BILL 1563
RATIFIED BILL
AN ACT to provide line‑of‑duty death benefits to fire and rescue instructors who are otherwise eligible for these benefits but who are not currently covered while conducting fire and rescue training outside their own departments.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1. G.S. 143‑166.2(d) reads as rewritten:
"(d) The term "law‑enforcement
officer", "officer", or "fireman" shall mean a sheriff
and all law‑enforcement officers employed full‑time, permanent part‑time,
or temporarily by a sheriff, the State of North Carolina or any county or
municipality thereof, whether paid or unpaid; and all full‑time custodial
employees and probation and parole officers of the North Carolina Department of
Correction; and all full time institutional and full‑time, permanent part‑time,
and temporary detention employees of the Department of Juvenile Justice and
Delinquency Prevention and full‑time, permanent part‑time, and
temporary detention officers employed by any sheriff, county or municipality,
whether paid or unpaid. The term "firemen" shall mean both "eligible
fireman"; or "fireman""eligible firemen" as
defined in G.S. 58‑86‑25 and all full‑time, permanent
part‑time and temporary employees of the North Carolina Division of
Forest Resources, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, during the
time they are actively engaged in fire‑fighting activities; and shall
mean all full‑time employees of the North Carolina Department of
Insurance during the time they are actively engaged in fire‑fighting
activities, during the time they are training fire fighters or rescue squad
workers, and during the time they are engaged in activities as members of the
State Emergency Response Team, when the Team has been activated.activated;
and shall mean all otherwise eligible persons who, while actively engaged as
firefighters or rescue squad workers, are acting in the capacity of a fire or
rescue instructor outside their own department or squad. The term "rescue
squad worker" shall mean a person who is dedicated to the purpose of
alleviating human suffering and assisting anyone who is in difficulty or who is
injured or becomes suddenly ill by providing the proper and efficient care or
emergency medical services. In addition, this person must belong to an
organized rescue squad which is eligible for membership in the North Carolina
Association of Rescue Squads, Inc., and the person must have attended a minimum
of 36 hours of training and meetings in the last calendar year. Each rescue
squad belonging to the North Carolina Association of Rescue Squads, Inc., must
file a roster of those members meeting the above requirements with the State
Treasurer on or about January 1 of each year, and this roster must be certified
to by the secretary of said association. In addition, the term "rescue
squad worker" shall mean a member of an ambulance service certified by the
Department of Health and Human Services pursuant to Article 7 of Chapter 131E
of the General Statutes. The Department of Health and Human Services shall
furnish a list of ambulance service members to the State Treasurer on or about
January 1 of each year. The term "Civil Air Patrol members" shall
mean those senior members of the North Carolina Wing‑Civil Air Patrol 18
years of age or older and currently certified pursuant to G.S. 143B‑491(a).
The term "fireman" shall also mean county fire marshals when engaged
in the performance of their county duties. The term "rescue squad worker"
shall also mean county emergency services coordinators when engaged in the
performance of their county duties."
SECTION 2. This act becomes effective June 1, 2008, and applies to workers' compensation claims arising from injuries occurring on or after that date and to death benefits awarded on or after that date under Article 12A of Chapter 143 of the General Statutes.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 17th day of July, 2008.
_____________________________________
Beverly E. Perdue
President of the Senate
_____________________________________
Joe Hackney
Speaker of the House of Representatives
_____________________________________
Michael F. Easley
Governor
Approved __________.m. this ______________ day of ___________________, 2008