For purposes of this chapter:

Terms Used In North Dakota Code 18-05.1-03

  • Beneficiary: A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract. Source: OCC
  • Individual: means a human being. See North Dakota Code 1-01-49
  • State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See North Dakota Code 1-01-49

1.    “Firefighter” means an individual who is a member of a paid or volunteer fire department that is a part of or is administered by this state, any political subdivision of this state, or a rural fire protection district.

2.    “Line of duty death” means a death that was due to an injury sustained while performing firefighter duties if the death occurred within forty-eight hours of participating in an emergency response or training event. Death from a heart attack or stroke is deemed to be a line of duty death if it occurs within forty-eight hours of an emergency response or training event.

3.    “Survivor” means the spouse of a deceased firefighter who died in the line of duty. If there is no spouse, the term means the individual designated in writing by the deceased firefighter as beneficiary of the Public Safety Officers’ Benefit Act [42 U.S.C.

3796 et seq.] death benefit, or if no beneficiary is designated, the deceased firefighter’s estate.