Pennsylvania Heart and Lung Work Injury Lawyer

The Pennsylvania Heart and Lung Act offers relief to injured workers employed by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and offers full salary compensation in case of an injury/accident at work. The intent of the Heart and Lung Act is to provide important public safety personnel with full compensation while disabled from an injury that happens in the performance of duty; and grants compensation where the disability is temporary. In Workers’ Compensation, compensation can be for permanent injuries too.

It applies to a number of state and local workers, including but not limited to, park guards, police officers, firefighters, investigators, corrections officers, enforcement officers, and more. Unlike the Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Act, the Pennsylvania Heart and Lung Act grants full compensation and continuation of employee benefits after the injury.

For help with your potential case, call our Pennsylvania heart and lung work injury lawyers today for a free case review at Cardamone Law at (267) 651-7945.

What is the Purpose of Pennsylvania’s Heart and Lung Act?

The purpose of the Heart and Lung Act is to provide important public safety personnel with full compensation while they are disabled from an injury that occurred in the performance of their duties. It also grants compensation where the disability is temporary. These benefits are separate from Workers’ Comp benefits, which can be claimed alongside these benefits.

The following laws cover each of these individual groups of public safety workers/first responders:

• For police officers, firefighters and other specifically enumerated people, the relevant law is 53 P.S. § 637.
• For county jail employees in Pennsylvania, the relevant law is 16 P.S. § 4531
• For state mental hospital workers in Pennsylvania, the section is 61 P.S. § 951–952.

These laws are designed to help public safety workers get the care and coverage they need after an accident so they can instead focus on mental and physical health instead of worrying about the financial complications of the incident. However, dealing with the claim while injured could be more complicated than it sounds. That is where a Workers’ Compensation attorney who deals with Pennsylvania Heart and Lung claims could help.

One other effect worth mentioning under this Act is protection of other sick leave benefits. Injuries covered under the Heart and Lung Act cannot detract from your other sick leave benefits, so the fact that you sustained a big injury early in the year does not take away your typical sick days when flu season rolls around at the end of the year.

All in all, the core purpose of the Heart and Lung Act can be seen as protecting the health and safety of those who protect our health and safety in society. Firefighters, police officers, and other state/local employees put their safety on the line as part of their job, and this law makes it so that they can get additional benefits beyond what Workers’ Comp typically provides, but only if the injury was sustained in the course of their official, dangerous duties.

What Benefits Does the Heart and Lung Act Provide for Injured Public Safety Workers/First Responders?

Injured public safety officers and first responders who qualify under the Heart and Lung Act can get full wage-loss benefits for an injury sustained in the course of their duties that temporarily incapacitates them. The core inspiration behind the name is the coverage the Act provides for firefighters or police injured by smoke inhalation, though the Act covers far more injuries than just smoke inhalation.

Under these rules, qualifying workers with temporary incapacity can receive their full wages while out of work for an injury sustained during their duties. Workers’ Comp usually provides only 2/3 of your lost wages, but the Heart and Lung Act steps this up to full wage-loss compensation.

This can be a big help, as many first responders and public safety workers have no access to an outside lawsuit to potentially recoup additional compensation. While injured workers in other industries might be able to sue parties other than their employer for injuries, recovering additional compensation on top of their 2/3 wage-loss benefits, injured firefighters, police, and guards often have no access to these lawsuits under traditional rules that block professional public safety officers from suing because they “assume the risks” they face on the job. The Heart and Lung Act makes up the gap.

Medical benefits for these injuries and the treatment needed are also covered. These benefits should be covered under Workers’ Comp as well, so you can be doubly sure that the compensation you need to treat your injuries and conditions should be covered in full under one Act or the other.

Applying the Pennsylvania Heart and Lung Act in Injury Cases

Although the Pennsylvania Heart and Lung Act awards full compensation and continuation of employee benefits to certain employees – and is therefore more generous than the Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Act in that regard – its scope is narrower and its language should be strictly construed.

Who is Covered?

Act 534 benefits, a.k.a. “Act 534/632,” applies to an employee of a state penal or correctional institution under the Bureau of Corrections of the Department of Justice and any employee of a state mental hospital or Youth Development Center under the Department of Public Welfare who is injured by the act of an inmate or person who has been committed to the institution, or an employee of the Department of Public Welfare who volunteers for the firefighting force and is injured while carrying out firefighting duties, etc.

The actual jobs and roles listed in the Act cover at least 23 bullet points, many of which include at least two specific job titles. Ultimately, many law enforcement, public safety, security, and administrative officers are included in this Act, so check the text of the law to see if your specific job is covered. Additionally, our Pennsylvania Heart and Lung work injury lawyers can review your case and determine whether your job is covered.

Scope of Duties Covered

One core distinction to remember is that the Heart and Lung Act only covers injuries sustained during official “duties,” contrasted with the Workers’ Comp Act’s coverage for any injuries “in the course” of work. This “duties” requirement is construed much more narrowly, which means that some injuries at work might qualify for Workers’ Comp benefits but not Heart and Lung benefits.

For example, a gas leak at the firehouse or police station might injure workers there and qualify them for Workers’ Comp, but if they were working at their desk rather than fighting fires or patrolling, it would not be during their “duties” and would not qualify for Heart and Lung Act benefits.

Temporary Incapacity Only

This Act also applies only to injuries causing “temporary incapacity.” That means that long-term conditions that will keep you out of work permanently might not be covered. For example, bad smoke inhalation could cause permanent lung or cardiac damage that might make returning to work as a firefighter impossible, given the demand that the job places on your heart and lungs. The wages lost from this permanent incapacity could, however, be claimed under Workers’ Comp instead of the Heart and Lung Act, but the compensation rate will be different between the two Acts.

Workers’ Compensation for Other Heart and Lung Injuries at Work

The Heart and Lung Act’s coverage is specifically for first responders, state/local government employees, and such, but other workers in various private industries might face heart and lung injuries from their work. If you received a lung injury from inhaling fumes, developed cancer or mesothelioma, had a heart attack from work conditions, or otherwise suffered lung of heart conditions from work, our lawyers can still help you.

Benefits for injured workers are available, generally, under the Workers’ Comp Act, even if your injury has nothing to do with the Heart and Lung Act. These benefits typically cover medical expenses to treat your injury/condition along with 2/3 of your lost earnings. Our attorneys can help you file your claim with your employer’s Workers’ Comp carrier and take the case to court with a petition for benefits if they refuse to pay your claim.

We can also help negotiate settlements, though these are not often the best course of action when your condition requires ongoing medical care and might get worse over time. That makes predicting the cost of medical care difficult, and it might be better to avoid settling for a lump sum where you might miss out on the chance to get additional medical care coverage later.

Our Heart and Lung Act Attorneys Can Help in Pennsylvania

For a free case review, call our Pennsylvania heart and lung work injury attorneys from Cardamone Law at (267) 651-7945.