Section 301.620  Eligibility

Only a volunteer meeting all of the following requirements is eligible for State coverage under the Workers' Compensation Act or Workers' Occupational Diseases Act:

a)         Volunteer, age 18 and above, of IEMA or of an ESDA accredited pursuant to Section 301.510;

b)         Volunteer not compensated;

c)         Duly qualified through appointment by IEMA or the ESDA to perform disaster response functions consistent with the IEMA Act and the political subdivision's ESDA ordinance;

d)         Enrolled (sworn in) in accordance with Section 20 of the Act; and

e)         Suffering disease, injury or death while participating in any of the following:

1)         Disaster response if:

A)        IEMA is notified at the time of disaster response by contacting the IEMA Communications Center at 1-800-782-7860; and

B)        The coverage request, on a form prescribed by IEMA, is received by IEMA within 10 calendar days after the disaster response has ended.

2)         Disaster exercise or training if:

A)        The exercise or training is related to the EOP of IEMA or the political subdivision;

B)        The exercise or training is specifically and expressly pre-approved in writing by IEMA for a specific date; and

C)        The coverage request, on a form prescribed by IEMA, is received by IEMA at least 5 calendar days, but not more than 30 calendar days, in advance of the planned exercise or training and is placed on the State Exercise or Training Calendar.

3)         Search-and-rescue team response if:

A)        The search-and-rescue team response is to an occurrence or threat of injury or loss of life that is beyond local response capabilities;

B)        The search-and-rescue team response is specifically and expressly requested by IEMA or by the ESDA that appointed and enrolled the search-and-rescue team volunteer and is specifically and expressly approved by IEMA prior to the search-and-rescue team response.  The Director of IEMA shall determine the termination of the approval period.  IEMA shall document its approval and termination on a form prescribed by IEMA; and

C)        Each search-and-rescue team volunteer used in the response has completed training appropriate to the function he or she performs during the search-and-rescue team response.

(Source:  Amended at 42 Ill. Reg. 15933, effective July 31, 2018)