Fitzpatrick Bill Seeks to Strengthen Public Safety Officer Benefits

The United States House of Representatives on Wednesday passed the Daniel McIntosh Public Safety Officers Benefits bill (H.R. 4018), which was authored by Congressman Mike Fitzpatrick (PA-08).

The bill would extend Public Safety Officer Benefits to the families of emergency service personnel who die in the line of duty while serving a non-profit organization.  Current federal law limits these benefits only to emergency service personnel employed by governmental units.

"Emergency service personnel encounter potentially dangerous situations every time they answer a call. Their selfless devotion serving their community keeps our neighborhoods safe and protected,” Fitzpatrick said. “It is paramount we afford them the peace of mind that their families will not be financially burdened should the unthinkable occur."

In March of 2010, Bensalem paramedic Daniel McIntosh responded to a 911 call in which a dangerous subject fled the scene to potentially harm their neighbors.  In recognizing the danger the caller posed, McIntosh tried to chase him down. In the process, he suffered a massive heart attack and died in the line of duty.  McIntosh, a husband and father of two young daughters, was just 39 years old when he died. 

Unfortunately, because of a tragic oversight in the laws governing the program, McIntosh's family was denied the death benefit they deserve because he was serving on an ambulance run by a non-profit, not a municipality, Fitzpatrick explained. 

“I introduced the Danny McIntosh Act to correct this oversight,” Fitzpatrick said. “Not only does this bill right a wrong, but, it will even save tax dollars by securing the well-being of the program in a fiscally responsible manner.”  

A Hulmeville Borough police officer, McIntosh was a 13-year veteran of the Bensalem Emergency Medical Services.  He was a volunteer firefighter for the Point Pleasant Fire Company and had achieved Life Member status.  He was a member of the Nottingham Fire Department, a Medic for the Bucks County Southern SWAT Team and the Bucks County Hazardous Material SWAT Team.

“Danny loved every aspect of his job. This legislation is an honor to his service and dedication as an emergency responder. It is a bill he would have supported if he was alive today and it will help not just our family but those of other fallen first responders nationwide,” said his widow Bethann McIntosh.

Fitzpatrick urged the Senate to support the bill.  “Not only can we do right by our first responders, but we can make the Public Safety Officers Benefit program solvent in the long term.”