IN RE: APPLICATION OF: VENECIA AND FIDEL SERRANO (2014)

OPINION

Claimants, Venecia and Fidel Serrano, parents of forty-one-year-old Fidel G. Serrano, Jr., a firefighter/paramedic with the Chicago Fire Department, filed this claim under the Illinois Line of Duty Compensation Act (S20 ILCS 315/1 et seq.) on May 1, 2013, pursuant to their sons August 26, 2012 death resulting from an intracerebral hemorrhage suffered within twenty-four hours of working-his-last assigned shift with the Chicago Fire Department.” In its report filed July 17, 2013, the Attorney General (AG) concluded it was unable to recommend whether Firefighter/Paramedic (FF/PM) Serrano was “killed in the line of duty” as contemplated by the Act. Upon the AGs recommendation this Court then referred this matter to a Commissioner, who conducted a hearing on June 18, 2014.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

At 6:30 a.m. on August 24, 2013, FF/PM Serrano started his usual assignment to Engine Co, 125 at 2323 N. Natchez. In addition to routine housekeeping duties and apparatus checks, there was a physically demanding drill that morning. The drill entailed the firefighters going outside the firehouse to practice securing water supply with a hose while wearing full protective gear with SCUBA. The hose filled with water weighed about 299 pounds, and the full protective gear with SCUBA weighed about fifty-two pounds—with FF/PM Serrano having to perform every position in the drill since he had the least experience among the crew members performing the drill. The heat index was 105 degrees that day.

After the drill, FF/PM Serrano participated in nine emergency calls that day. Six of the calls involved assisting ambulance personnel with lifting and removing civilians. Two involved responses to accidental fire alarm activations that nonetheless required FF/PM Serrano to carry a 55 pound hand pump. The other call involved helping ambulance personnel search for a missing patient at 7:00 a.m., on August 25, 2013 FF/PM Serrano was relieved from his shift.

The next day, at 6:37 a.m. FF/PM Serrano was found dead in his basement. The Cook County Medical Examiner's report states that his death was the result of an intracerebral hemorrhage. In support of their claim, Claimants offer two medical opinion reports by Dr. Michael Chen, MD and Dr. Scott Lipson MD. Both reports state that it was “highly medically plausible” or to a “reasonable degree of medical certainly” that FF/PM Serrano's intracerebral hemorrhage was due to a heat stroke suffered as result of the high temperature and physically demanding nature of his duties during his shift from August 24 to August 25.

ANALYSIS

The decedent having been “killed in the line of duty” is a precondition to granting a claimant compensation under the Line of Duty Compensation Act. The relevant portion of 820 ILCS 315/2(e) provides the following definition for killed in the line of duty:

“Killed in the line of duty” means losing one's life as a result of injury received in the active performance of duties as a law enforcement officer, civil defense worker, civil air patrol member, paramedic, fireman, or chaplain if the death occurs within one year from the date the injury was received and if that injury arose from violence or other accidental cause…”

FF/PM Serrano's injuries were not the result of violence. Thus, in order to prevail, Claimants must establish that his death occurred within one year of an injury that arose from an accidental cause. See In re Application of Kolowski, 48 Ill. Ct Cl. 443, 447 (1995).

This Court has previously found that a fatal medical event such as a heart attack constitutes an injury arising from an accidental cause where the decedent's heart attack was due to the job activities that he was performing. In re Application of Smith 43 Ill.Ct.Cl. 183, 184 (1990). The job duties must be more than a factor that could have contributed to the fatal injury; a claimant must prove by a preponderance of the evidence that they actually caused the fatal injury. See Application of Cardwell, 44 Ill.Ct.Cl. 288 (1991). (Denying claim under the Act and finding, “[n]o evidence [was] presented indicating the decedent was performing strenuous physical activities at the time the [heart attack] was suffered or that the circumstances surrounding the decedents performance of duties [as a police officer on executive security detail] prior to the time he collapsed produced unusual stress or strain which could have been sufficiently injurious to precipitate a heart attack,”); Simioni v. State, 48 Ill.CtCl. 209 (1993). (Granting claim under the Act where doctor stated in evidence deposition that the stress of decedent's job, combined with the fact that he had been exposed to carbon monoxide on the job 23 hours prior to his death, caused the decedent's fatal heart attack).

Here, Claimants offer two medical opinion reports from two different doctors: Dr. Michael Chen, an Associate Professor in the Department of Neurological Surgery at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, and Dr. Scott Lipson, board certified in adult neurology and in clinical neurophysiology. Both doctors indicate that the physically job duties that FF/PM Serrano performed on that extremely hot day most likely caused him to suffer a heat stroke that in turn caused his fatal intracerebral hemorrhage.

Dr. Chen stated, “[i]t seems highly medically plausible, that with the information provided, Mr. Serrano's accidental death caused by intracerebral hemorrhage was a result of heat stroke from his exposure to the conditions and nature of his work as a firefighter the previous day where the temperatures reached 105 degrees fahrenheit and he wore on numerous occasions protective gear that exacerbated the effects of heat on his body.” Dr. Lipson noted that Decedent's 24.5 hour shift included heavy physical exertion in foil gear on a very hot day, a clear risk factor for heat stroke,” and opined “to a reasonable degree of medical certainty, the intracerebral hemorrhages sustained by Mr. Serrano were caused by the heat stroke that occurred during his shift in very hot weather.”

Accordingly, we find that Claimants have proven by a preponderance of the evidence that FF/PM Serrano's death was in the ‘line of duty’ under the Line of Duty Compensation Act Claimants' claim is hereby granted.

FF/PM Serrano completed a Line of Duty Compensation Act Designation of Beneficiary form which designated his patents, Fidel H. Serrano and Venecia G. Serrano, as equal 50% beneficiaries. Section 3(b) of the Act provides the compensation amount for a death that occurs in the line of duty. The base compensation is $259,038.00, plus a cumulative adjustment by the yearly Consumer Price Index. The amount of compensation for this claim, after all applicable adjustments, is $342,088.00.

IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that Fidel H. Serrano is awarded $171,044.00 (One Hundred Seventy One Thousand Forty-Four dollars), and Venecia G. Serrano is awarded $171,044.00 (One Hundred Seventy One Thousand Forty-Four dollars).

SPRAGUE, J.