FRANKFORT, Ky. — A bill that would offer death benefits to the families of EMS providers who die in the line of duty overwhelmingly passed the House Local Government panel Wednesday.
Currently, the families of police officers and firefighters who die in the line of duty receive a lump sum of $80,000 and tuition waiver to a state college. That benefit doesn’t extend to EMS providers, WDRB reported.
Bill HB 54 would extend those benefits to the families of EMTs, paramedics and rescue squads.
“We’re just asking that the paramedics and the EMTs get the same benefits as the rest of our first responders,” said Janine Mackey, whose husband John Mackey was killed in the line of duty in November.
The committee voted for the bill to be retroactive to last year, so it would cover Mackey’s family as well, and to be named in honor of John Mackey.
“To know that, after his passing, that his legacy could be to continue to help every family in EMS in the state of Kentucky is wonderful,” Janine Mackey said.
The bill is now headed to the full House.