• Too Ill to Drive? Postpone & Stay Home
• Calling Sick
• Confinement to Residence on Medical Leave
• Problems? Treated Unfairly at Medical Office?
• Medical Bills $$ for Line-of-Duty Injury (LODI)
• Prescription Drug Bills $$ for LODI
• OT $$ for LOD
• Light Duty Assignment OT $$
• Physical Therapy on Light Duty
• Violations of Law & Contract by the Dept
• Medical Office Hours, Location, Directions, Parking

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Too Ill to Drive? Postpone & Stay Home
As you may know, the Department has recently unilaterally announced a new policy, which is clearly intended to harass firefighters who are too sick or injured to report for duty. Firefighters who call in sick or injured are now ordered to immediately report for evaluation to the Medical Office, which is now open until midnight (7 days a week). Although the medical staff at the Bureau of Health Services claims that any medically valid request for postponement will be honored, we are receiving reports that many firefighters have been denied and ordered in. They have been told that unless they appear as ordered, they will be considered AWOL. 

• Unsafe Orders: We want to make it clear that firefighters are required to obey all legal orders from the Bureau of Health Services. However, a firefighter is not required to obey an order that will unnecessarily endanger his health or safety. Accordingly, if you reasonably feel that you are too ill or injured to report to the Medical Office, you should express that to whomever you speak to at the Postponement Desk (718-999-1918/19/20). If necessary, request to speak to a Dept Doctor. You should be ready to explain why you are unable to appear. Your reason may well be that traveling to the Medical Office may endanger you and others, that you have an excellent medical leave record and that there is no reason to compel your immediate appearance. You can not be denied the right to postpone if it may be hazardous to your health and well being. If you are too ill or injured to travel and are instructed that you can't postpone, ask for a Department ambulance to pick you up, transport you to the BHS and transport you home. If this is denied, ask for a BHS doctor to examine you at your home. If both requests are denied (we are currently informed they will be denied), inform the BHS that you "are postponing and will try again tomorrow." You can also call your firehouse to ask for Company Journal entries be made to document your postponement.
  
  
• Get a Doctor's Note: It is recommended that you obtain a note from your private physician, your local medical center or Emergency Room confirming your illness and the inadvisability of your traveling to Brooklyn. This will help validate for the Department your reason for postponement. Dept. PA/ID 2-87 states that Medical Office appearances may only be postponed "if the member is non-ambulatory" (unable to travel). It is not sufficient to assert that you have family obligations, i.e., you have to pick up your children, you need to get your car fixed, etc. Those reasons are not acceptable and will not withstand scrutiny. For each day you are really too ill to travel and you don't want to worsen your medical condition, you can postpone again via the same procedure.
  
  
• Document All BHS Correspondences: We recommend that you keep a record of any conversation with the Medical Office staff to confirm exactly what both you and they say-and write down the date, time and name of the person(s) you speak with.  We further recommend that if you believe you are not receiving proper medical care or consideration, you should immediately notify the UFA Health & Safety Officer / Sergeant-at-Arms or the Trustee of the Day of the specific facts of your case by immediately calling 212-683-4832. 

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Calling Sick
Never self diagnose. Tell the doctor where it hurts or how you feel-and no more. Do not allow anyone other then a doctor to diagnose you. Let them decide what condition is causing your problem. When on the phone with BHS or Car 32 or 33 (Dept Doctor's vehicle), insist on speaking with the doctor when discussing your condition. Anyone else, no matter how well meaning, is unqualified to discuss or diagnose your condition. However, other issues may be addressed by other medical office staff.

• Calling Sick from Home: In accordance with PA/ID 1-2003, off-duty members must call the FDNY Automated Citywide Medical Leave System 24/7 (which will prompt you to provide certain identifying info) at 718-330-2204, at least two hours before your next tour start. You must also notify a supervisor from your unit within the same time frame. Members are currently being ordered via Automated Medical Leave System to appear at BHS on the same day or evening by midnight. Many members are being assigned to light duty (9am to 5pm shifts) effective the next day. After your medical examination, you must pick-up your duty determination record and sign out. You must also notify your unit/officer of duty status and next date you are scheduled to visit the BHS.
  
  
• Calling Sick from Work (Regs. 17.12): Members who call in sick while on-duty are being granted leave for the remainder of the tour. Make sure a mark is taken in the Company Journal. This will not count as a medical leave-nor will you be penalized-under the SMLP program. The BHS is automatically returning many members back to full duty at the end of that tour, unless you call in sick again at least one hour prior to the end of that tour (one tour = a 9x6 or 6x9, not a 24). If you are taking the remainder of the first half or your 24, you will automatically be put back to full duty for the second half of the 24 unless you call in sick again. If you do call in sick at that time, you must immediately report to the BHS, which is now open until midnight, 7 days per week. This call may count towards the SMLP program. If you are not scheduled to work the second half of a 24, but are still not feeling well before you go home-do not call in sick at that time. You should only call in sick again if you are still not feeling well within two hours of your next scheduled tour. Call in sick (718-330-2204) at that time-and not sooner!.

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Confinement to Residence on Medical Leave
It is a violation of a Federal Court Stipulation if any member is instructed by the Dept. to remain confined in residence when calling to postpone a Medical Office appearance. The March 24, 1996 Stipulation Of & Order Of Settlement and Discontinuance recorded in U.S. District Court prohibits confinement to residence while on medical leave as follows: "All members, unless they have been placed on SMLP, are not restricted to their residence, are exempt from any home visitation or telephone calls while on medical leave..."

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Problems? Treated Unfairly at Medical Office?

• Be Polite: Never get into a confrontation with BHS doctors or personnel. The Doctors are not our enemies. You should calmly explain to the doctor any legitimate reasons you disagree with their determination, especially if your health or safety will be endangered.
  
  
• Avoiding a Certain Doctor:  If you seem to have personal difficulties with a certain doctor, and you are his/her next patient, simply wait for the other doctor to become available. It's a simple remedy if you don't have an appointment with a specific doctor. Just because you are next in line doesn't mean you can't voluntarily wait for the doctor next door.
  
  
• Help at BHS: If you still disagree, your first avenue of defense at the medical office will be the officers in charge. On weekdays, there are the two uniformed chiefs assigned to B.H.S., who will usually be accessible to you. They are understanding and sincere, but limited in power as far as what determinations they can alter. You can also see them if you believe you are being ordered to do something that is detrimental to your health or safety, against Dept policy or our Collective Bargaining Agreement. If you strike out with both the treating doctor and the chief, then call the UFA Health & Safety Officer/Sergeant-at-Arms at 212-683-4832 (if unavailable, the UFA Trustee of the Day). Let the switchboard operator or answering service know if it is a BHS emergency. Do this BEFORE you leave the medical office.
  
  
• Documenting Problems 'After the Fact': If you are still unable to resolve the issue with BHS, document everything; the date, time, doctor, your present duty status, who you spoke to and the circumstances surrounding the event-and make copies of all paperwork. After speaking with the UFA Health & Safety Officer / Sergeant-at-Arms (or if unavailable, the Trustee of the Day), forward documented information to the UFA Health & Safety Office for action by UFA and our attorneys, if warranted.

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Medical Bills $$ for Line-of-Duty Injury (LODI)
The FDNY pays directly for any medical services you receive in connection with your LODI-but ONLY if you receive prior approval. Always get written authorization from BHS before you go for outside consultation or medical treatment for a LODI Injury. If you seek your own treatment without prior written authorization-the Department will not pay the bill. All attempts at reimbursement will prove fruitless

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Prescription Drug Bills $$ for LODI
Never use your UFA-SBF drug card for any LODI drug prescriptions-ever! If you do this, the cost comes directly out of your UFA health benefits fund. It's your money. Don't waste it-the Dept is required to pay it! Ask the FDNY doctor for reimbursement instructions. Pay for your prescription out-of-pocket and submit the receipt (keep a copy) to FDNY Compensation Desk, 9 Metrotech Center, Brooklyn, NY 11201.

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OT $$ for LOD
*Make sure your officer prepares your TPRs to reflect the overtime.

• If you are injured, and call sick from a job and are told to report to the medical office right away-and if that trip takes you into the following tour-you are entitled to overtime until the medical office puts you on medical leave. 
  
  
• If the Medical Officer "orders you to remain" beyond the end of your tour at the firehouse or emergency room to await a return call from BHS or arrival of Car 32 or 33, "overtime will be authorized" per Regs 17.12.9. (TPR Code 1464/1465). You do not have to wait unless ordered.
  
  
• If you are injured or ill and in the hospital or in-route to medical office and your duty status is still in question for the next tour (but the tour has not started yet), then the manning spots must be filled with MMOT members.  The Department may not reduce manning in another company to fill your spot. Inform the UFA Trustee of the Day immediately if you become aware of the Department violating this regulation. If you don't, other companies will be starting the next tour understaffed!!!

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Light Duty Assignment OT $$
Many members are being are assigned to Light Duty (LD) effective the very next day after they call sick (if they are not put on medical leave). The LD chart is the next 5 consecutive days, 9am to 5pm, and then two days off. The same two days off repeat each week. In accordance with AUC #184 (and the UFA Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA)), members assigned to a new group are entitled to OT if the change results in any of the below situations. Make sure your officer prepares your TPRs to reflect overtime to conform with these Department Policies:

• AUC 184, Section 4.0: "Group changes shall be made so that member works as close to 144 hours per 25-day cycle as possible. If the group change contemplated would exceed the 144 hours in a 25-day cycle, the member would receive overtime for the additional hours."
  
  
• AUC 184, Section 4.1 (A): Members are entitled to forty-eight hours leave after their group is scheduled for two 9x6 tours, and seventy-two hours leave after their group is scheduled for two 6x9 tours.
  
  
• 2000-2002 CBA, Art. 12, Sec. 7: "Before commencing duty with a new group, a FF who has completed working two 9-hour or two 15 hour tours and who is entitled to a 48-hour or a 72-hour leave shall be permitted to complete the full 48-hour or 72-hour leave."

* Make sure your officer prepares your TPRs to reflect overtime to confirm with AUC 184 and our CBA.

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Physical Therapy on Light Duty (LD
On days when physical therapy is scheduled while working the light duty 9am to 5pm (0900 to 1700) schedule, members will be released to attend physical therapy for part of the tour. Members may attend physical therapy from 0900 to 1300 and then report for duty for the remainder of the tour, or they will report for duty at 0900 and then be released at 1300 for the remainder of the tour to attend physical therapy. Inform your LD Officer in advance.

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Violations of Law & Contract by the Dept
The UFA filed grievances against the Department for the following violations:

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Medical Office Hours, Location, Directions, Parking
The BHS Medical Office is located at 9 Metrotech Center (just south of Tillary St. & Flatbush Ave. Extension) in Brooklyn, 2nd floor. Hours are now 8am to 12 midnight, 7 days a week. You must sign in. You may wear civilian attire. If there are no chairs available to sit, ask the officer at BHS to provide you a seat. Directions & Parking:

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Fraternally,

Stephen J. Cassidy
President

Joseph A. Miccio
Recording Secretary

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