FEDERAL WAY, Wash. — Six years after dying from HIV, a Wash. firefighter’s death has been recognized as a line of duty death by the state.
South King Fire and Rescue Firefighter Doug Waller was infected while on the job in 2001. He was helping a bleeding man without wearing gloves, according to Q13 Fox.
Although initial tests came back negative, he later died from the disease at 59, six years after his retirement. His exposure was recorded at the time but wasn’t discovered until later.
Years after his death, the state did not recognize that Firefighter Waller died in the line of duty because he did not die at a scene or shortly after an incident. But now state officials have accepted his death as such.
“Should something like this happen to any of us, we feel better that our families will be taken care of,” Battalion Chief Chuck Kahler told KING-TV.
It’s led to better safety practices within the department, too.
“Everyone gloves up now, gowns up, when there’s a lot of bodily fluids,” Chief Kahler told KCPQ-TV. “A lot of that just wasn’t common practice back then.”
Firefighter Waller’s name is now memorialized on a fire and rescue memorial pike pole, recognizing fallen firefighters from around Wash. state.