AN ACT providing line of duty death benefits for telecommunicators.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  G.S. 143‑166.2 is amended by adding a new subdivision to read:

(13)    Telecommunicator. – A person qualified to provide 911 call taking employed by a public safety answering point (PSAP). The term applies to 911 call takers, dispatchers, radio operators, data terminal operators, or any combination of such call taking functions in a PSAP.

SECTION 2.  G.S. 143‑166.2(1) is amended by adding a new sub‑subdivision to read:

f.        Telecommunicators.

SECTION 3.  G.S. 143‑166.2(6) is amended by adding a new sub‑subdivision to read:

f.        When the death of a telecommunicator occurs as a direct and proximate result of a heart attack or stroke that occurs in the course of employment or during travel to or from work, that telecommunicator is presumed to have been killed in the line of duty.

SECTION 4.  This act becomes effective July 1, 2021.