Do The First Responders Get Workers’ Compensation?

You do an enormously pressurized work if you work as a first responder. Your tasks include rescue, ambulance transport, confrontation with army intruders and more. Your task is to provide the necessary assistance in an emergency condition. While your job is to help people and families in dangerous circumstances, you can ironically be injured while performing your job and may therefore have the right for workers comp. Here are a few things to remember when you're a first respondent and hurt while doing your job.

Report the damage as soon as possible to your supervisor. You will obviously try to finish your job and make sure that a patient is transported safely to hospitals, when you carry a heavy man who has just had a heart attack on the stray with one of your paramedics and feel a pop in your back while moving him from his house to the ambulance. However, inform your supervisor with a telephone call or a text of your injury as soon as possible. It is conceivable that you are asked to report an incident and document the events.

It may appear odd that you are taking care of a person in need of medical treatment and that you might require the attention of doctors for an injury on the job. Suppose you are a police officer and you are called to the scene of an accident in which both drivers are wounded and ambulances have been sent to the hospital. Suppose you leave the scene a mile down the road with pain to the neck. You call and inform your lieutenant that in an accident you were wounded and want healthcare. A list of designated compensation providers to choose from should be provided to you by your lieutenant. You may choose your own health provider if you do not receive a list and the listing does not appear at your station. You should visit your local emergency room if your injuries are severe.

Any trained professionals who come to help in an emergency situation are a first response. This usually includes police, fire-fighters, medical paramedics, emergency medics and other civil servants. Emergencies range from car accidents and burning to natural and terrorist disasters.

The very nature of the job of a first respondent puts them in danger of injury. Like any other professional, a first respondent can receive compensation from workers for injuries sustained in their public service.

Injury Types

• Concussion

• Broken bone

• Damage to internal organs

• Injury due to burn

• Dislocation

• Sprain

• Injury to spinal cord

• Damage to brain

• PTSD

Some injuries are noticeable immediately, but some build over time. The knees and shoulders are often affected by cumulative injuries caused by carrying equipment or another physical weight. Concerns about mental health are often less clear but just as serious. After the consequences of major accidents or disasters, numerous emergency response personnel develop PTSD.

Your Legal Options

First responders who are injured in line with their duties have several legal ways to seek compensation, including:

• Compensation of workers: Anyone injured at the workplace may receive compensation from workers for health, loss of wages and labor, physical impairment and mental anguish.

• Third-party lawsuits: If an accident is caused by factors such as manufacturer fault or motorist failure, the victim may file a separate claim in order to seek due compensation.

• Wrongful death: If a respondent is killed in an accident on the grounds of work, a wrongful death lawsuit can cover his / her family and loved ones with a lost source of income and other losses.

See us at Foshee and Yaffee for workers comp in OKC. Contact us for any legal help including personal injury or wrongful death cases or nursing home abuse.

**Disclaimer: This content is not to be construed as legal advice nor does it establish terms of a client-attorney relationship.