Volunteer firefighter says state insurance coverage needs to come of age

Veteran volunteer firefighter Pat Vannozzi wasn't looking for any accolades when he answered the call to service on the evening of Oct. 21, 2006.

Vannozzi and his fellow firefighters at the Clark County Fire Department's Volunteer Station No. 81 on Mount Charleston roll on hundreds of calls per year. That night, they rushed to put out a small wildfire near the Cathedral Rock area of Kyle Canyon. Vannozzi, the station's deputy chief, joined his fellow volunteers to make sure the small fire was extinguished before it became a threat to life and property.

Volunteers understand that their efforts are uncompensated. They often risk their lives to keep their community safe, and they seldom receive more than a wave of thanks from their neighbors. They are, however, covered by insurance while performing their duties.

Or at least that's what Vannozzi thought.

A few hours after the fire was out, the 58-year-old fitness buff suffered a massive heart attack.

Although the deadly development was initially misdiagnosed in the emergency room, Vannozzi eventually was admitted to a hospital and had two stents inserted into his heart during life-saving surgery. A few days later, he was at home.

And that's when the real trouble began.

Vannozzi discovered that his duty-related heart attack wasn't covered by his state insurance because he was older than 54. In one of the most obviously ageist laws on the books in any state, Nevada statute denies heart coverage for volunteer firefighters 55 and older.

To give you an idea how absurdly unfair the law is, consider the fact Nevada would have almost no firefighting capability in its rural communities without its approximately 1,000 volunteers, about one-third of whom are older than 55. (By one estimate, more than 70 percent of America's firefighters are volunteers.)

"It's based solely on age," says Vannozzi, who has piled up thousands of dollars in medical bills, spends $350 a month on heart medication and is 27 percent disabled. "If I were to break my leg, I'd be covered. But they don't cover hearts for volunteers my age."

Of course, volunteers his age are the ones who need the heart coverage most.

Vannozzi's predicament is well known to Michael Heidemann, executive director of the Nevada State Firefighters' Association (NSFA). Heidemann is attempting to win support for amending the current law at the Legislature. He's picked up allies from the Nevada State Board of Fire Services, the Nevada Fire Services Standards and Training Committee, and the Nevada Fire Chiefs Association.

"This is not a career versus volunteer issue," Heidemann says. "This is not a nickel versus dollar issue. This is the right thing to do. And the right thing to do is to protect the people that are protecting the lives and properties of the citizens of the state of Nevada while they are protecting those lives and properties. And now it's time to do the right thing."

Will the Legislature step up and do the right thing at a time it's being called upon to prioritize spending and trim its wish lists?

If you think the issue doesn't have the potential to impact you, think again, NSFA Vice President Steve McClintock says. Outside the metropolitan areas, most of Nevada's fire and medical emergencies are handled by volunteers.

"These people do all of this on their own time," McClintock says. "These people are there because they want to do a service not only to their community, but to the state of Nevada and the county of Clark."

This much is certain: If the law isn't changed soon, the state will end up spending far more defending slam-dunk age discrimination lawsuits than it would have covering its volunteer firefighters.

Despite his heart attack, Vannozzi remains a proud volunteer with 14 years of experience. He still exercises, still talks up the value of the volunteer system. But when he talks about his odyssey inside the system, his frustration shows.

"How a state Legislature could have ever enacted and passed a law to say age discrimination is OK is amazing," Vannozzi says. "This was a travesty when it was proposed, more of a travesty when it was passed and signed. And now it's time to stop this folly."

He's right.

But will anyone at the Legislature answer the volunteers' call for help?

John L. Smith's column appears Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. E-mail him at Smith@reviewjournal.com or call 383-0295.