TITLE 45
Towns and cities
CHAPTER 45-19
Relief of Injured and Deceased Fire Fighters and Police Officers
SECTION 45-19-1
§ 45-19-1 Salary payment during line of
duty illness or injury.
(a) Whenever any police officer of the Rhode Island Airport Corporation or
whenever any police officer, fire fighter, crash rescue crewperson, fire
marshal, chief deputy fire marshal, or deputy fire marshal of any city, town,
fire district, or the state of Rhode Island is wholly or partially
incapacitated by reason of injuries received or sickness contracted in the
performance of his or her duties or due to their rendering of emergency
assistance within the physical boundaries of the state of Rhode Island at any
occurrence involving the protection or rescue of human life which necessitates
that they respond in a professional capacity when they would normally be
considered by their employer to be officially off-duty, the respective city,
town, fire district, state of Rhode Island or Rhode Island Airport Corporation
by which the police officer, fire fighter, crash rescue crewperson, fire
marshal, chief deputy fire marshal, or deputy fire marshal, is employed, shall,
during the period of the incapacity, pay the police officer, fire fighter,
crash rescue crewperson, fire marshal, chief deputy fire marshal, or deputy
fire marshal, the salary or wage and benefits to which the police officer, fire
fighter, crash rescue crewperson, fire marshal, chief deputy fire marshal, or
deputy fire marshal, would be entitled had he or she not been incapacitated,
and shall pay the medical, surgical, dental, optical, or other attendance, or
treatment, nurses, and hospital services, medicines, crutches, and apparatus
for the necessary period, except that if any city, town, fire district, the
state of Rhode Island or Rhode Island Airport Corporation provides the police
officer, fire fighter, crash rescue crewperson, fire marshal, chief deputy fire
marshal, or deputy fire marshal, with insurance coverage for the related
treatment, services, or equipment, then the city, town, fire district, the
state of Rhode Island or Rhode Island Airport Corporation is only obligated to
pay the difference between the maximum amount allowable under the insurance
coverage and the actual cost of the treatment, service, or equipment. In
addition, the cities, towns, fire districts, the state of Rhode Island or Rhode
Island Airport Corporation shall pay all similar expenses incurred by a member
who has been placed on a disability pension and suffers a recurrence of the
injury or illness that dictated his or her disability retirement, subject to
the provisions of subsection (j) herein.
(b) As used in this section, "police officer" means and
includes any chief or other member of the police department of any city or town
regularly employed at a fixed salary or wage and any deputy sheriff, member of
the fugitive task force, or capitol police officer, permanent environmental
police officer or criminal investigator of the department of environmental
management, or airport police officer.
(c) As used in this section, "fire fighter" means and
includes any chief or other member of the fire department or rescue personnel
of any city, town, or fire district, and any person employed as a member of the
fire department of the town of North Smithfield, or fire department or district
in any city or town.
(d) As used in this section, "crash rescue crewperson" means
and includes any chief or other member of the emergency crash rescue section,
division of airports, or department of transportation of the state of Rhode
Island regularly employed at a fixed salary or wage.
(e) As used in this section, "fire marshal," "chief deputy
fire marshal", and "deputy fire marshal" mean and include the fire marshal,
chief deputy fire marshal, and deputy fire marshals regularly employed by the
state of Rhode Island pursuant to the provisions of chapter 28.2 of title 23.
(f) Any person employed by the state of Rhode Island, except
for sworn employees of the Rhode Island State Police, who is otherwise entitled
to the benefits of chapter 19 of this title shall be subject to the provisions
of chapters 29 38 of title 28 for all case management procedures and
dispute resolution for all benefits.
(g) In order to receive the benefits provided for under this
section, a police officer or firefighter must prove to their employer that he
or she had reasonable grounds to believe that there was an emergency which
required an immediate need for their assistance for the protection or rescue of
human life.
(h) Any claims to the benefits provided for under this
section resulting from the rendering of emergency assistance in the state of
Rhode Island at any occurrence involving the protection or rescue of human life
while off-duty, shall first require those covered by this section to submit a
sworn declaration to their employer attesting to the date, time, place and
nature of the event involving the protection or rescue of human life causing
the professional assistance to be rendered and the cause and nature of any
injuries sustained in the protection or rescue of human life. Sworn
declarations shall also be required from any available witness to the alleged
emergency involving the protection or rescue of human life.
(i) All declarations required under this section shall
contain the following language:
"Under penalty of perjury, I declare and affirm that I have
examined this declaration, including any accompanying schedules and statements,
and that all statements contained herein are true and correct."
(j) Any person receiving injured on-duty benefits pursuant to
this section, and subject to the jurisdiction of the state retirement board for
accidental retirement disability, for an injury occurring on or after July 1,
2011, shall apply for an accidental disability retirement allowance from the
state retirement board not later than the later of eighteen (18) months after
the date of the person's injury that resulted in said person's injured on duty
status or sixty (60) days from the date on which the treating physician
certifies that the person has reached maximum medical improvement. Nothing
herein shall be construed to limit or alter any and all rights of the parties
with respect to independent medical examination or otherwise, as set forth in
the applicable collective bargaining agreement. Notwithstanding the forgoing,
any person receiving injured on duty benefits as the result of a static and
incapacitating injury whose permanent nature is readily obvious and
ascertainable shall be required to apply for an accidental disability
retirement allowance within sixty (60) days from the date on which the treating
physician certifies that the person's injury is permanent, or sixty (60) days
from the date on which such determination of permanency is made in accordance
with the independent medical examination procedures as set forth in the
applicable collective bargaining agreement.
(1) If a person with injured on duty status fails to apply
for an accidental disability retirement allowance from the state retirement
board within the time frame set forth above, that person's injured on duty
payment shall terminate. Further, any person suffering a static and
incapacitating injury as set forth in subsection (j) above and who fails to
apply for an accidental disability benefit allowance as set forth in subsection
(j) shall have his or her injured on duty payment terminated.
(2) A person who so applies shall continue to receive injured
on duty payments, and the right to continue to receive IOD payments of a person
who so applies shall terminate in the event of a final ruling of the workers
compensation court allowing accidental disability benefits. Nothing herein
shall be construed to limit or alter any and all rights of the parties with
respect to independent medical examination or otherwise, as set forth in the
applicable collective bargaining agreement.
History of Section.
(P.L. 1944, ch. 1479, §§ 1, 2; P.L. 1944, ch. 1479, §§ 1-3;
P.L. 1952, ch. 2915, § 1; G.L. 1956, § 45-19-1; P.L. 1960, ch. 126,
§ 1; P.L. 1972, ch. 212, § 1; P.L. 1973, ch. 245, § 1; P.L.
1975, ch. 154, § 1; P.L. 1976, ch. 167, § 1; P.L. 1984, ch. 333,
§ 1; P.L. 1986, ch. 371, § 1; P.L. 1987, ch. 527, § 1; P.L.
1988, ch. 64, § 1; P.L. 1988, ch. 329, § 1; P.L. 1990, ch. 419,
§ 1; P.L. 2001, ch. 77, art. 29, § 6; P.L. 2002, ch. 65, art. 14,
§ 2; P.L. 2007, ch. 243, § 1; P.L. 2007, ch. 284, § 1; P.L.
2007, ch. 329, § 1; P.L. 2007, ch. 497, § 3; P.L. 2007, ch. 519,
§ 3; P.L. 2011, ch. 151, art. 12, § 7; P.L. 2012, ch. 324, § 6;
P.L. 2013, ch. 445, § 8; P.L. 2013, ch. 475, § 8.)
