34 U.S.C. § 10284 Definitions

• Library: United States Statutes
• Edition: 2023
• Currency: Current through P.L. 118-34 (published on www.congress.gov on 12/26/2023), except for [P. L. 118-31]
• Year: 2023
• Citation: 34 U.S.C. § 10284

As used in this subchapter-

(1) "action outside of jurisdiction" means an action, not in the course of any compensated employment involving either the performance of public safety activity or the provision of security services, by a law enforcement officer, firefighter, or member of a rescue squad or ambulance crew that-

(A) was taken in a jurisdiction where-

(i) the law enforcement officer or firefighter then was not authorized to act, in the ordinary course, in an official capacity; or

(ii) the member of a rescue squad or ambulance crew then was not authorized or licensed to act, in the ordinary course, by law or by the applicable agency or entity;

(B) then would have been within the authority and line of duty of-

(i) a law enforcement officer or a firefighter to take, who was authorized to act, in the ordinary course, in an official capacity, in the jurisdiction where the action was taken; or

(ii) a member of a rescue squad or ambulance crew to take, who was authorized or licensed by law and by a pertinent agency or entity to act, in the ordinary course, in the jurisdiction where the action was taken; and

(C) was, in an emergency situation that presented an imminent and significant danger or threat to human life or of serious bodily harm to any individual, taken-

(i) by a law enforcement officer-

(I) to prevent, halt, or respond to the immediate consequences of a crime (including an incident of juvenile delinquency); or

(II) while engaging in a rescue activity or in the provision of emergency medical services;

(ii) by a firefighter-

(I) while engaging in fire suppression; or

(II) while engaging in a rescue activity or in the provision of emergency medical services; or

(iii) by a member of a rescue squad or ambulance crew, while engaging in a rescue activity or in the provision of emergency medical services;

(2) "candidate officer" means an individual who is enrolled or admitted, as a cadet or trainee, in a formal and officially established program of instruction or of training (such as a police or fire academy) that is specifically intended to result upon completion, in the-

(A) commissioning of such individual as a law enforcement officer;

(B) conferral upon such individual of official authority to engage in fire suppression (as an officer or employee of a public fire department or as an officially recognized or designated member of a legally organized volunteer fire department); or

(C) granting to such individual official authorization or license to engage in a rescue activity, or in the provision of emergency medical services, as a member of a rescue squad, or as a member of an ambulance crew that is (or is a part of) the agency or entity that is sponsoring the individual's enrollment or admission;

(3) "blind" means an individual who has central visual acuity of 20/200 or less in the better eye with the use of a correcting lens or whose eye is accompanied by a limitation in the fields of vision such that the widest diameter of the visual field subtends an angle no greater than 20 degrees;

(4) "catastrophic injury" means an injury, the direct and proximate result of which is to permanently render an individual functionally incapable (including through a directly and proximately resulting neurocognitive disorder), based on the state of medicine on the date on which the claim is determined by the Bureau, of performing work, including sedentary work: Provided, That, if it appears that a claimant may be functionally capable of performing work-

(A) the Bureau shall disregard work where any compensation provided is de minimis, nominal, honorary, or mere reimbursement of incidental expenses, such as-

(i) work that involves ordinary or simple tasks, that because of the claimed disability, the claimant cannot perform without significantly more supervision, accommodation, or assistance than is typically provided to an individual without the claimed disability doing similar work;

(ii) work that involves minimal duties that make few or no demands on the claimant and are of little or no economic value to the employer; or

(iii) work that is performed primarily for therapeutic purposes and aids the claimant in the physical or mental recovery from the claimed disability; and

(B) the claimant shall be presumed, absent clear and convincing medical evidence to the contrary as determined by the Bureau, to be functionally incapable of performing such work if the direct and proximate result of the injury renders the claimant-

(i) blind;

(ii) parapalegic; ¹ or

(iii) quadriplegic;

(5) "chaplain" includes any individual serving as an officially recognized or designated member of a legally organized volunteer fire department or legally organized police department, or an officially recognized or designated public employee of a legally organized fire or police department who was responding to a fire, rescue, or police emergency;

(6) "child" means any natural, illegitimate, adopted, or posthumous child or stepchild of a deceased or permanently and totally disabled public safety officer who, at the time of the public safety officer's death or fatal injury (in connection with any claim predicated upon such death or injury) or the date of the public safety officer's catastrophic injury or of the final determination by the Bureau of any claim predicated upon such catastrophic injury, is-

(A) 18 years of age or under;

(B) over 18 years of age and a student as defined in section 8101 of title 5; or

(C) over 18 years of age and incapable of self-support because of physical or mental disability;

(7) "firefighter" includes an individual serving as an officially recognized or designated member of a legally organized volunteer fire department, including an individual who, as such a member, engages in scene security or traffic management as the primary or only duty of the individual during emergency response;