New Jersey Expands Workers’ Compensation for First Responders

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy recently signed into law a change in workers’ compensation coverage for volunteer and professional public safety and law enforcement personnel.

The new law (A-5909/S-4267) amends current workers’ compensation law to add that a response to an emergency, including work that is sufficient to cause a cardiac event, stroke or death, is compensable. The previous law required that the emergency response had to be in response to an order or occur on a shift.

The new law asserts that there is a rebuttable presumption that any cardiovascular or cerebrovascular injury or death occurring in response to an emergency is covered under workers’ compensation.

The bill also expands those who are covered to include any career emergency medical technicians and paramedics employed by the state, a county, a municipality, or a private sector counterpart who is engaged in public emergency medical and rescue services. In addition, paid, part-paid, or volunteer firefighters and police officers and members of a volunteer first aid or rescue squad are eligible for compensation.

Inspiration for Change

According to Matthew Caliente, president of the Professional Firefighters Association of New Jersey, one inspiration for the bill was an emergency medical technician with the Lakeland Ambulance Squad who eight years ago died from a heart attack hours after responding to a motor vehicle crash involving his daughter. His family had to fight for years to be awarded compensation after his passing.

Caliente also cited a Newark firefighter whose family had to fight for benefits after he died of a heart attack a few hours after he got off shift last year.

“The work of our members, firefighters, EMTs, and paramedics is physical in nature, and when you add the emotional and environmental stressors that we bring home after our shift, our bodies are negatively impacted hours and days after the response is over,” said Caliente.

“Workers’ compensation provides peace of mind to workers, who know they will receive wage replacement and medical coverage for any illness or injuries sustained during the course of their employment. This law further protects first responders – who put themselves in harm’s way in order to help others – in emergency situations,” said Labor Commissioner Robert Asaro-Angelo.

For 2022, the National Fire Protection Association reported a nationwide total of 96 fatal firefighter injuries resulting from traumatic injury, heart attack, or stroke while victims were on duty or within 24 hours of duty.

Sponsors of the bill included Senator Paul Sarlo, Assemblyman Wayne DeAngelo. Senator Parker Space, Senator Steven Oroho, and Assemblyman Harold Wirths.

Rebuttal of the presumption based upon medical causation requires “clear and convincing medical evidence that the work experience was not a substantial cause of the cardiovascular or cerebrovascular injury.”

The presumption is rebuttable by showing other causal factors such as horseplay, self-infliction, voluntary intoxication, and illicit drug use.