§ 3 — Definitions

§ 3. Definitions. As used in this chapter:\n 1. "Volunteer ambulance worker" means an active volunteer member of an\nambulance company as specified on a list regularly maintained by that\ncompany for the purpose of this chapter.\n 2. "Ambulance company" means any voluntary or municipal ambulance\nservice registered or certified pursuant to article thirty of the public\nhealth law, except an ambulance service subject to the provisions of\nsection two hundred nine-b of the general municipal law.\n 3. "Line of duty" means the performance by a volunteer ambulance\nworker as a volunteer ambulance worker of the duties and activities\ndescribed in subdivision one of section five of this chapter and the\nsame such duties and activities performed for a specialized team\nestablished pursuant to the provisions of section two hundred nine-bb of\nthe general municipal law for which the volunteer ambulance worker does\nnot receive any remuneration or a gratuity and shall be deemed to\ninclude any date of injury as determined by the workers' compensation\nboard pursuant to the provisions of section forty-one of this chapter.\nThe following shall not be deemed to be remuneration or a gratuity:\nreimbursement of expenses for meals, lodging and actual and necessary\ntravel; the receipt of a mileage allowance in lieu of travel expense;\nand the acceptance of transportation, food, drink, shelter, clothing and\nsimilar items while on duty or engaged in such activities.\n 4. "Injury" means any disablement of a volunteer ambulance worker that\nresults from services performed in line of duty and such disease or\ninfection as may naturally and unavoidably result from an injury.\n 5. "Child" includes a posthumous child, a child legally adopted prior\nto the injury of the volunteer ambulance worker; and a step-child or\nacknowledged child born out of wedlock dependent upon the deceased\nvolunteer ambulance worker.\n 6. "Surviving spouse" means the legal spouse of a deceased volunteer\nambulance worker, but shall not include a spouse who has abandoned the\ndeceased. The term "abandoned", as used in this subdivision, means such\nan abandonment as would be sufficient under section two hundred of the\ndomestic relations law to sustain a judgment of separation on that\nground.\n 7. "Dependent" means a surviving spouse entitled to receive benefits\nunder this chapter, whether or not actually dependent upon a volunteer\nambulance worker, unless a contrary meaning is clearly intended.\n 8. "Earning capacity", except as herein provided, means:\n a. The ability of a volunteer ambulance worker to perform on a five\nday or six day basis either the work usually and ordinarily performed by\nhim in his remunerated employment or other work which for any such\nworker would be a reasonable substitute for the remunerated employment\nin which he was employed at the time of his injury, or\n b. The ability of a volunteer ambulance worker to perform on a five\nday or six day basis either the work usually and ordinarily performed by\nhim in the practice of his profession or in the conduct of his trade or\nbusiness, including farming, and from which he could derive earned\nincome or other work which for any such person would be a reasonable\nsubstitute for the profession, trade or business in which he was engaged\nat the time of his injury.\n Every volunteer ambulance worker shall be considered to have earning\ncapacity and, if the provisions of paragraphs a and b of this\nsubdivision are not applicable in any given case, the workers'\ncompensation board, in the interest of justice, shall determine the\nreasonable earning capacity of the volunteer ambulance worker with due\nregard to the provisions of such paragraphs and the work he reasonably\ncould be expected to obtain and for which he is qualified by age,\neducation, training and experience. The ability of a volunteer ambulance\nworker to perform the duties of a volunteer ambulance worker, or to\nengage in activities incidental thereto, may be considered in\ndetermining loss of earning capacity, but the inability of a volunteer\nambulance worker to perform such duties or to engage in such activities\nshall not be a basis of determining loss of earning capacity.\n 9. "State" means all territory within the boundaries of the state of\nNew York, including territory which has been or may hereafter be ceded\nto the federal government or to the United Nations and territory within\nthe boundaries of Indian reservations.\n 10. "Political subdivision" means a county, city, town, village or\nfire or ambulance district.\n 11. "State fund" means the state insurance fund provided for in\narticle six of the workers' compensation law.\n 12. "County plan of self-insurance" means a county plan of\nself-insurance under article five of the workers' compensation law.\n 13. "Insurance carrier" means the state fund, the stock corporations,\nmutual corporations, group self-insurers or reciprocal insurers\ndescribed in subdivision nine of section thirty of this chapter, a\ncounty plan of self-insurance, or a self-insuring political subdivision.\nFor purposes of this chapter, a nonprofit property/casualty insurance\ncompany which is licensed pursuant to subsection (b) of section six\nthousand seven hundred four of the insurance law shall be deemed a stock\ncorporation and a nonprofit property/casualty insurance company which is\nlicensed as a reciprocal insurer pursuant to subsection (c) of section\nsix thousand seven hundred four of the insurance law shall be deemed a\nreciprocal insurer.\n 14. "Fund raising activity" means a fund raising activity described in\nsubdivision one of section two hundred four-a of the general municipal\nlaw, except that for the purposes of paragraph k of subdivision one of\nsection five of this chapter it shall not include competitive events in\nwhich volunteer ambulance workers are competitors, such as baseball,\nbasketball, football, bowling, tugs of war, donkey baseball, donkey\nbasketball, boxing, wrestling, contests between bands or drum corps, or\nother competitive events in which volunteer ambulance workers are\ncompetitors and which involve physical exertion on the part of the\ncompetitors. Such term "fund raising activity" shall not include drills,\nparades, inspections, reviews, competitive tournaments, contests or\npublic exhibitions, described in paragraphs e and h of subdivision one\nof section five of this chapter, even though prizes are awarded at such\nevents.\n 15. The "workers' compensation rating board" or the "New York workers'\ncompensation rating board" shall have the meaning set forth in section\ntwo of the workers' compensation law.\n