Relates to disability benefits for certain individuals employed by the Nassau county police department

• Democratic2
• Republican1

◆ The sponsor's argument

Why Robert Jackson says this is needed

Nassau County Police Medics serve their community countywide, providing the highest possible quality in pre-hospital advanced life support emer- gency medical service care. Though rare, it does happen that Nassau County Police Medics are rendered seriously and permanently disabled due to injuries sustained in the line of duty. While such instances occur infrequently, they are nonetheless devastating to the Medic involved, their spouses, and their children. Police Medics respond to and perform work in varying types of situ- ations, from the scenes of basic medical assistance calls to truly life- threatening emergencies. They respond to calls in all types of places via ambulance. They perform their duties on active highways, at fire scenes, at the scenes of collapsed buildings, railroad incidents, and active crime scenes. They also operate as Tactical Medics with the Nassau County Police Department Bureau of Special Operations. Further, they sometimes operate as Hazardous Materials Decontamination Techni- cians. Though the Medics are well trained, they sometimes encounter the danger- ous environments described above, as well as dangerous, violent individ- uals. They are not armed on the job. Their duties as Hazardous Materials Decontamination Technicians and Tactical Medics are by their nature very dangerous and can result in serious injury. It should be noted that Emergency Medical Technicians in the adjacent City of New York have a 75% disability benefit. This bill will provide appropriate protection for Nassau County Police Medics and their families in the event of a serious on-the-job disablement. It will also rectify the imbalance in protection that currently exists between the Medics and other, similar first responders.

This is the sponsor's own case for the bill, quoted from their memorandum. It is not Agora's description of what the bill does.