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January
1, 2010
Passage
of LODD Benefit Bill for
EMS
is Goal of AMKY
Following
a rushed round of meetings and negotiations, Kentucky Representative David
Floyd (the Minority House Whip who represents Nelson County and parts of
Bullitt and Spencer Counties) pre-filed a bill on Dec. 17 for the 2010
Kentucky Legislative Session that would extend the state Line of Duty
Death Benefit to EMS responders.
BR494
is an Act relating to in-the-line-of-duty death benefits which, if passed,
would amend KRS 61.315 to add that the spouse or dependents of an
emergency responder volunteering for or employed by a licensed ambulance
service under KRS Chapter 311A are eligible for a state death benefit when
the emergency responder dies in the line of duty. The Act would also
require the Kentucky Board of Emergency Medical Services to promulgate
administrative regulations to carry out the provisions of the statute.
A
Kentucky
emergency responder whose death occurred after July 1, 2002 as a direct
result of an act in the line-of-duty would be awarded $80,000. Seven
EMS
responders have died in the line of duty since July 1, 2002. There have
been 26 known EMS responders killed in the line of duty in
Kentucky
, although most of them were already covered under police or fire death
provisions. The 2010 Legislative Session begins on Jan. 5 and is scheduled
to end on Apr. 13.
AMKY
has been instrumental in getting this bill filed and will continue to work
with the Kentucky Ambulance Providers Association and KBEMS to get this
bill passed during this session.
“Extending
this valuable state benefit to all members of the emergency response team
goes a long way to recognizing the sacrifices that
EMS
had made,” said
Ron Walter
, Area Business Manager. “Years ago, it was the least we could do for
the families of police officers and firefighters. Now, it is the least we
can do for the families of
EMS
workers. We will be working hard to extend this benefit to all of our
EMS
customers. As the Legislative Sessions gets under way, we’ll be letting
all staff know what they can do to help get this bill passed.”
Learn
more at www.hultgren.org/lodd/
___________________________
About
Air Methods Kentucky
Air
Methods Kentucky is a full-service air medical transport system covering
Kentucky and southern Indiana.
Founded in 1982 as the first civilian air medical program in Kentucky,
in 1995 it became the first air medical program in the state to earn
CAMTS (Commission on Accreditation of Medical Transport Systems)
accreditation. It operates 10 helicopter ambulances and one
fixed wing ambulance throughout its region, with state offices
headquartered in Lexington. With a mission of safety, quality, and
integrity, Air Methods Kentucky is committed to providing its patients
and medical and emergency service partners with a high level of care and
professionalism. For more information about Air Methods Kentucky,
visit http://www.airmethodsky.com.
About
Air Methods Corporation
Air
Methods Kentucky is owned by Air Methods Corporation (NASDAQ:
AIRM),
the nation’s largest
provider of air medical emergency transport services and systems. The company is dedicated exclusively to air medical transport,
focusing on the quality of care to patients, and safety in
aviation operations. With 27 years of experience, the company transports more than
84,000 patients annually who require intensive medical care from
either the scene of an accident or general care hospitals to
highly skilled trauma centers or tertiary care centers. For
more information about Air Methods Corporation, visit http://www.airmethods.com.
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