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January 10, 2003
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Native
firefighter injured in Colorado blazes denied
workers’ comp
By Jeff Armstrong
A Miqmaq firefighter who fractured her pelvis battling
Colorado wildfires which ravaged the state last year says she has
encountered
an equally formidable adversary in the form of the federal bureaucracy.
Working under contract with the Bureau of Indian Affairs,
Kathy Kingbird has been waiting for federal workers’ compensation since
she
filed for a 45-day continuance of pay on July 2, one day after breaking
her hip
on a steep slope in a forest near Colorado Springs. Six months later,
she has
collected nothing from her disabling injury but a growing pile of
medical bills
and paperwork.
Kingbird was featured in news reports last summer as a hero
for her role in fighting fires which ultimately claimed the lives of
nine of
her comrades and nearly one million acres of forest land. Today, she is
a
forgotten casualty, reduced to dependence on a $200 monthly state
General
Assistance check and the support of her friends.
Kingbird, age 30, walks with a pronounced limp and
occasionally with the assistance of a cane. Although her pain is
intermittent,
the discomfort is constant, she says.
Her problems began with a misdiagnosis. Initially treated at
Penrose Hospital in Colorado Springs, Kingbird was subjected to
numerous
medical tests which identified only contusions, or bruises. “Bones,
joints and
soft tissues are within normal limits,” the hospital reported.
Back in Bemidji, MeritCare clinic prescribed a regimen of
physical therapy inappropriate for the treatment of a pelvic fracture.
Kingbird
said medical professionals refused to believe the extent of her pain.
“They tried to tell me it was all in my head,” she said.
It was not until Nov. 6 that MeritCare physician William G.
Muller located “a fracture of the pelvis in 2 spots… Patient was
disabled
starting July 1, 2002 and actually continues to be disabled now.”
Muller
regretted that “her medical diagnosis was missed for some time.”
In a bewildering series of responses to Kingbird’s claims,
the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs
denied,
then approved, only to again deny, her application for benefits.
On Aug. 21, federal claims examiner Craig Johnson determined
that the “information submitted with your claim is insufficient to
establish
that you sustained an injury on the above date.” Kingbird was given a
30-day
deadline to file additional medical documentation.
A month later, on Sept. 23, Johnson wrote Kingbird to
“notify you that your claim has been accepted for the condition of…left
hip
flexor strain.” Three days later, on Sept. 26, Johnson wrote to the BIA
to
request employment information in order to “determine the correct
entitlement
to compensation.” However, on the very same day, the examiner wrote to
Kingbird
that: “We are unable to issue payment at this time because all claims
for
compensation must be supported by medical evidence. You have not
submitted
sufficient medical evidence that your work related injury of 07/01/2002
rendered
you totally disabled from work.”
Yet even before identifying the pelvic fractures, MeritCare
Clinic had filled out three workability reports verifying Kingbird’s
inability
to work through Sept. 18. Upon receiving Dr. Muller’s revised
diagnosis, Kingbird
wrote to Johnson Nov. 18 to inform him that a bone scan “showed that my
pelvis
was fractured in two places. I am still in pain and I still have a
difficult
time with my disability.”
Johnson failed to reply.
On Dec. 23, Kingbird wrote Johnson again “in hopes that you
will respond to my previous letters I have sent before…I am asking for
your
assistance, Mr. Johnson. I am a Wildland Fire Fighter. When I got hurt,
I was
doing my job, fighting wildland fires. I have not been doing much of
anything
since I got hurt. I hope that the documents I am sending you will be
sufficient
enough for my claim of compensation.”
Federal workers’ compensation and BIA officials could not be
reached for comment.
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