Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine has approved legislation designed to close what lawmakers said was a loophole in workers compensation coverage for medical providers who are injured after being exposed to bodily fluids on medical helicopters.
The governor on Wednesday signed into law Senate Bill 106, which adds nurses and physicians to the list of employees eligible for workers comp for testing for bloodborne pathogens after being exposed to bodily fluids on air ambulance flights.
Until the change in law, pathogen testing expenses were covered for paramedics, emergency medical technicians and other first responders, but not for nurses and doctors, who are required by law to be present on medical flights.
Both the House and Senate had unanimously passed the bill in February.