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CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) – A Charleston firefighter is not only having to recover from a heart attack on the job, but he’s also dealing with a financial burden.
Under current South Carolina law, heart attacks are not considered covered by workers’ compensation, limiting options for those serving the public.
Charleston Firefighter Scott McWethy was exercising after training as part of his mandated duties on January 4th when he noticed something was terribly wrong.
“At first I felt dizzy. I didn’t understand what was happening,” McWethy says. “I didn’t have any chest pain at all until we all went to the hospital.”
When colleagues realized McWethy was having a heart attack, they quickly intervened and took him to Roper St. Francis. Doctors performed surgery to remove 100% of the blocked artery, saving McWethy’s life.
McWethy has dedicated 25 years of his life as a firefighter, including 15 years specifically in Charleston.
“You never know how much brotherhood there is until something happens to you,” McWethy says. “It brings everyone together because it’s like a second family.”
As she spent the next month recuperating at home, McWethy tried to calculate the costs left for her and her family.
Surprisingly, South Carolina Workers’ Compensation did not cover his heart attack.
“It’s a sad situation where firefighters are made to think that if they have a heart attack on the job like I did, they’re covered,” McWethy said. “It’s all because the state laws are so weirdly written regarding heart attacks in workers’ comp. I think they need to change.”
State law 42-1-160 reads in part: “Heart attacks that result from employment that do not involve physical injury and that occur during employment shall not be considered compensable.”
Charleston Firefighters Association Local 61 President John Baker is from Florida, where health conditions such as heart attacks are covered by workers’ compensation.
“It was kind of shocking to me because it’s not about South Carolina,” Baker said. “Just learning that other association members in municipalities across the Lowcountry who have suffered a stroke are not similarly covered was a huge eye-opener.”
Baker said cardiovascular disease is the second leading cause of death among firefighters, after cancer, and 80 to 85 percent are due to cardiac arrest.
“If we can get the education to spread that message and work closely with our legislators to fix this language in the various bills we propose, it will not only save lives; , it could also help people in the situation in Scotland who have had a heart attack at work and have no support from workers’ compensation,” Mr Baker said.
McWethy said her sick and vacation time has been reduced over the last month to the point where her pay has been cut.
“Since sick time and vacation days are gone, you don’t have time, so your check is either shorter or you don’t get a check at all,” McWethy said. “Bills pile up with other household expenses that have to be paid.”
Both Mr Baker and Mr McWethy hope his unfortunate health scare will support the need for changes to the law.
“I hope we can do something like what Florida and West Virginia have done in terms of a heart-lung bill to actually cover our members,” Baker said. “When the time comes, we want to retire with dignity. We want a long-lasting career and this will help.”
“I wish the state would just sit back and rewrite the law to better protect us so we don’t have to go through the stress after a heart attack,” McWethy says.
The South Carolina Workers’ Compensation Commission did not respond to a request for comment on this story.
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