NVFC Calls For Department of Justice to Award Hometown Heroes Claims

(On July 11, 2007)



NVFC Calls For Department of Justice to Award Hometown Heroes Claims

Calls For Congressional Investigation Into the Award-Making Process
At a press event today in Washington, DC, the National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) called for the Department of Justice (DoJ) to begin awarding Public Safety Officer’s Benefits (PSOB) to families who applied for the benefit under the Hometown Heroes Survivors Benefits Act. PSOB is a one-time payment of nearly $300,000 to the families of fallen public safety officers. The Hometown Heroes Act, which became law in 2003, was supposed to make it possible for public safety officers who die from heart attack or stroke caused by participation in emergency response to qualify for PSOB. Since passage of the law, DoJ has made seven awards, denied 47 claims and has 199 claims that are still pending.

“From the language of the law to the clearly expressed intent of Congress, DoJ should be paying benefits in cases where a public safety officer died from heart attack or stroke within 24 hours of participating in emergency response,” said NVFC Chairman Philip C. Stittleburg. “DoJ needs to start making these payments today, and Congress should investigate why three and a half years after passage of the law so few payments have been made and so many denials and pending cases exist.”

The press conference took place in the Dirksen Senate Office Building. Also speaking were Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Congressmen Bob Etheridge (D-NC), Dave Reichert (R-WA), and Spencer Bachus (R-AL). The widows of three fallen firefighters and representatives from other public safety organizations also spoke.

DoJ has denied claims in which firefighters suffered a fatal heart attack during emergency response. Their justification is that emergency response doesn’t necessarily constitute “nonroutine stressful or strenuous physical” activity. A report that appeared recently in the New England Journal of Medicine would appear to contradict this, finding that firefighters are at an extremely heightened risk of suffering a heart attack not only during fire suppression but during alarm response and alarm return as well.

“I’ve got a news flash for DoJ,” said Stittleburg. “Emergency response by its very nature is nonroutine stressful and strenuous physical activity. Ask anyone who actually knows what it is like to respond to an incident and they’ll agree with me.”

“DoJ has been determining on a case-by-case basis whether or not the emergency response described in a PSOB application passes some illusory litmus test,” Stittleburg continued. “This puts tremendous pressure on public safety agencies to create a detailed narrative of the deceased officer’s activities that accurately conveys the physical and emotional strain of emergency response.”

For more information on Hometown Heroes, go to www.nvfc.org. The NVFC encourages supporters to contact their Representatives and Senators to call for a Congressional investigation into DoJ’s implementation of the Hometown Heroes Survivor’s Benefits Act.