2008-077. Edward Seiler Appellant vs. F.R. Bell and Assoc. and Alaska National Insurance Co. Appellees.

• Case Date: May 22, 2008
• Court: Alaska

Alaska Workers Compensation Decisions 2008. Workers' Compensation Appeals Commission 2008-077. Edward Seiler Appellant vs. F.R. Bell and Assoc. and Alaska National Insurance Co. Appellees Alaska Workers' Compensation Appeals Commission Edward Seiler, Appellant, vs. F.R. Bell and Assoc. and Alaska National Insurance Co., Appellees.Decision No. 077 May 22, 2008AWCAC Appeal No. 07-010 AWCB Decision No. 07-0041 AWCB Case No. 200509695Final Decision Appeal from Alaska Workers' Compensation Board Decision No. 07-0041, issued at Anchorage on March 1, 2007, by south-central panel members Krista M. Schwarting, Chair, John Abshire, Member for Labor, and Linda Hutchings, Member for Industry. Appearances: Richard N. Sutliff, for appellant Edward Seiler. Michael A. Budzinski and Michelle M. Meshke, Russell Wagg Gabbert and Budzinski, for appellee Alaska National Insurance Co. Appellee F.R. Bell and Assoc. did not participate in the appeal. Commission proceedings: Oral argument on appeal presented March 11, 2008.Commissioners: David W. Richards,Stephen Hagedorn,Kristin Knudsen, Chair.This decision has been edited to conform to technical standards for publication. By: Stephen Hagedorn, Appeals Commissioner. 1. Introduction. Edward Seiler appeals the board's decision denying his claim for medical expenses of a "medevac" flight from Prudhoe Bay to Providence Alaska Medical Center in Anchorage. The board concluded that there must be an injury and a link between the employment and the injury for a medical transportation expense to be covered by AS 23.30.095(a). The board found Seiler had no work-related injury. The board had substantial evidence to support its findings that Seiler's medevac flight was not the result of an injury as defined in AS 23.30.395(24). Therefore, the board's decision is affirmed. 2. Factual background. Seiler, a land surveyor for F.R. Bell, experienced chest pain while working on the North Slope in June 2005.(fn1) The dull chest pain began before Seiler left for his two-week shift on the North Slope.(fn2) Seiler initially attributed the pain to gastroesophageal reflux disease ("GERD"), a condition for which he had previously been treated.(fn3) But when the relatively insignificant pains did not subside after his arrival at Prudhoe Bay,(fn4) he decided to report to the British Petroleum medical facility for evaluation.(fn5) As a condition of his employment, he was required to report to the clinic for any injury or illness, no matter how small.(fn6) He testified, "I figured, you know, if it just happened to be my blood pressure, or maybe it was something heart-related, maybe I should check into it."(fn7) A physician's assistant evaluated him and recommended that he be "medevacked" (flown by medical evacuation charter flight) to Anchorage to rule out heart-related problems.(fn8) Although Seiler protested the use of a medevac flight and stated that he preferred to take the regular charter flight back to Anchorage, he reluctantly agreed to the medevac.(fn9) He testified, "[W]ith all their machines and everything, they pretty much had me subdued into thinking that I really had a problem. . . . [Y]ou look at these guys to be the experts and if they got something that they know, then what are you gonna say?"(fn10) Seiler was taken by ambulance to Deadhorse, put on a medevac flight to Anchorage and taken by another ambulance to Providence hospital...