As used in this chapter:
(1) “College or university” shall mean any nonprofit college in the State which is accredited by the appropriate regional accrediting agency.
(2) “Covered person” is defined as a member of 1 of the following:
a. Enrolled firefighters, auxiliary and volunteer ambulance and rescue company members in good standing, either according to the rules of their Delaware volunteer company, or through their assignment to a municipal fire company;
b. National guardmembers on state duty pursuant to subchapter V of Chapter 1 of Title 20, and National Guard members activated for federal service under Title 10 of the United States Code;
c. Police officers of any jurisdiction of this State or its subdivisions;
d. Correctional officers and probation and parole officers employed by the Department of Correction;
e. State merit system employees who qualify for hazard pay under the state merit system regulations Nos. 5.1041 and 5.1042;
f. Drivers and attendants of ambulances owned or operated by the American Legion or Veterans of Foreign Wars for the benefit of the public; provided, however, that such ambulance drivers and attendants have been certified by the State;
g. The Fire Marshal, the Deputy Fire Marshals, Fire Inspectors, Fire Safety Engineer, and the Director, Senior Instructors and Field Instructors of the Delaware State Fire School;
h. Ambulance drivers and State-certified emergency medical technicians (EMTs) of ambulances owned or operated by ambulance or fire departments, counties, or municipalities for the benefit of the public;
i. Law-enforcement officers of the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control;
j. Employees of the Department of Transportation routinely employed in job-related activities upon the state highway system, such as toll operators, construction inspectors, equipment operators, bridge inspectors and maintenance staff, and survey crews;
k. Agents of the State Division of Alcohol and Tobacco Enforcement;
l. Officers or agents of the State Police Drug Diversion Unit;
m. Officers or agents of the State Police Sex Offender Apprehension and Registration Unit (SOAR);
n. State forest officers and Special Forest Fire Wardens employed by the Department of Agriculture;
o. Paramedics of any jurisdiction of this State or its subdivisions;
p. Justices of the peace constables;
q. Sheriffs and deputy sheriffs;
r. Security officers, bailiffs and legal assistants performing services as bailiffs in the Supreme Court, Superior Court, Court of Chancery, Court of Common Pleas, Family Court and the Justice of the Peace Courts;
s. Employees of the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control while serving aboard watercraft and nonscheduled aircraft;
t. Employees of the Delaware Emergency Management Agency while traveling to, returning from or while performing official duties associated with natural, human error or technological emergencies, including all normal and special assignments;
u. Employees of the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control Environmental Response Team while traveling to, returning from, or while performing official duties associated with natural, human error, technological or other emergencies, including all normal and special assignments;
v. Agents employed by a state, county or municipal law-enforcement agency engaged in monitoring sex offenders;
w. Constables commissioned pursuant to Chapter 56 of Title 24; or
x. 911 dispatchers, as defined under § 10002 of Title 16.
(3) a. “Death in the line of duty” shall mean any death of a covered person under this chapter, arising out of and in the course of that person’s assigned duty, including all normal and special assignments as ordered by that person’s superiors or assignments undertaken while acting as a law-enforcement officer under rules, directions or regulations promulgated by the appropriate employing authority, within or outside of normal duty hours; provided, however, that death of a covered person occurring while that person is on active duty shall create a rebuttable presumption that such death was a death in the line of duty and that the burden of proof shall be on the employer to demonstrate by a preponderance of the evidence that such death was not a death in the line of duty.
b. “Death in the line of duty” with respect to enrolled firefighters, auxiliary members and volunteer ambulance and rescue company members as referred to in paragraph (2)a. of this section shall include in addition to other provisions of this section any death occurring while performing assigned duties, or while traveling to or returning from a fire alarm, rescue operation or any other emergency volunteer fire company action; provided, however, that the phrases “traveling to” and “returning from” shall include the time encompassed by the firefighters’, auxiliary members’ or volunteer ambulance and rescue company members’ entrance into their personal vehicle or company emergency vehicle in response to the alarm or emergency call until their first disembarkation from their personal vehicle at their home, place of employment or other location.
c. Death in the line of duty shall not include:
1. Death from natural causes, except that death in the line of duty shall include death proximately resulting from a heart attack, stroke, or vascular rupture if the public safety officer, while on duty, engages in a situation involving nonroutine stressful or strenuous physical activity no more than 24 hours before said heart attack, stroke, or vascular rupture; or
2. Accidental death during travel to and from work, except in emergencies and in cases where a covered person is called upon to perform a duty in the course of such travel; or
3. Death as a result of disobedience to or exceeding of orders or instructions from superiors; or
4. Suicide.
(4) “Dependent children” shall include stepchildren, adopted children and children to whom the deceased stood in loco parentis, if members of the decedent’s household at the time of death.