The Associated Press
MONTPELIER, Vt. — Vermont’s two U.S. senators are sponsoring legislation that would extend death benefits to relatives of paramedics who work for nonprofit ambulance services and are killed in the line of duty.
The legislation is named after Vermont paramedic Dale Long, who was killed last week when the ambulance he was driving veered off the road and hit a tree.
The program was created more than three decades ago to provide help to family members of police officers, firefighters and medics who are killed or disabled while working, but only public safety officers are eligible.
The bill would extend the benefits to employees of nonprofits, affecting about 20,000 EMS workers nationally. It would also provide benefits to workers disabled on the job.