HB 301

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to firefighters and paramedics; creating
3	s. 112.183, F.S.; providing that death or disability due
4	to cancer suffered by a firefighter or paramedic employed
5	by the state or its political subdivisions is presumed
6	accidental and suffered in the line of duty under certain
7	conditions; authorizing purchase of insurance by local
8	governments; providing criteria for physical exams for
9	firefighters and paramedics; requiring the employing
10	agency to keep records and notify firefighters and
11	paramedics of their reported exposure to known
12	carcinogens; providing that firefighters and paramedics
13	employed on the effective date of the act need not comply
14	with physical examination requirements; providing an
15	effective date.
16
17	WHEREAS, firefighters and paramedics are trained to risk
18	their lives or bodily injury to protect the lives and property
19	of the public, and
20	WHEREAS, firefighters and paramedics are exposed by reason
21	of their employment to smoke, fumes, and burning substances of a
22	toxic, carcinogenic, or poisonous nature and are required by
23	their employment to enter uncontrolled environments in the
24	performance of their duties, unaware of and without regard for
25	potentially harmful exposures, and
26	WHEREAS, the development of cancer may be slow, and cancer
27	may not be manifested until many years after exposure to the
28	cancer-producing agent, and
29	WHEREAS, it is fair and proper that firefighters and
30	paramedics be compensated for death or disability due to
31	exposure to cancer-producing substances, NOW, THEREFORE,
32
33	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
34
35	Section 1.  Section 112.183, Florida Statutes, is created
36	to read:
37	112.183  Firefighters and paramedics; special provisions
38	relative to cancer.--
39	(1)  Any condition or impairment of the health of a
40	firefighter or paramedic employed full time by the state or any
41	municipality, county, port authority, special tax district, or
42	fire control district that is caused by cancer and results in
43	total or partial disability or death is presumed to have been
44	accidental and to have been suffered in the line of duty unless
45	the contrary is shown by competent evidence. However, the
46	firefighter or paramedic must have successfully passed a
47	physical examination before entering into service as a
48	firefighter or paramedic, which examination failed to reveal any
49	evidence of any such condition. If the employing agency fails to
50	provide a physical examination before the firefighter or
51	paramedic enters service, the firefighter or paramedic must
52	successfully pass a physical examination given after the
53	firefighter or paramedic enters service. The presumption does
54	not apply to benefits payable under or granted in a policy of
55	life insurance or disability insurance unless the insurer and
56	insured have negotiated for the additional benefits to be
57	included in the policy contract.
58	(2)  The governmental entities set forth in subsection (1)
59	may negotiate policy contracts for life and disability insurance
60	that include accidental death benefits or double indemnity
61	coverage and that include the presumption that any condition or
62	impairment of health of any firefighter or paramedic caused by
63	cancer resulting in total or partial disability or death was
64	accidental and suffered in the line of duty unless the contrary
65	is shown by competent evidence.
66	(3)  A physical examination administered pursuant to
67	subsection (1) must include at least the following tests, as
68	appropriate for the gender of the examinee:
69	(a)  Physical breast examination and mammogram for female
70	breast cancer.
71	(b)  Digital rectal examination, proctosigmoidoscopy, and
72	blood stool test for colon and rectum cancer.
73	(c)  Rectal examination for prostate cancer.
74	(d)  Pap test for uterine cancer.
75	(e)  Pelvic examination for ovarian cancer.
76	(f)  Radiographic examination for lung cancer.
77	(4)  The employing agency shall maintain a record of any
78	reported exposure of a firefighter or paramedic to a known
79	carcinogen as defined by the International Agency for Research
80	on Cancer and must notify the firefighter or paramedic of the
81	exposure within 48 hours after the exposure is reported.
82	Section 2.  A firefighter or paramedic employed on the
83	effective date of this act is not required to meet the
84	provisions of s. 112.183, Florida Statutes, as created by this
85	act, as to a physical examination.
86	Section 3.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.