Vaughn v. City of Carbondale

Plaintiff, a former city police officer, was on duty and when standing outside his patrol car in a parking lot, reached inside the car to answer a dispatcher's call on his police radio. While reaching in, he struck his head on door frame, resulting in compression fracture of the neck.  Section 10 of Public Safety Employee Benefits Act provides for lifetime payment of health insurance premiums for employee and family, when  catastrophic injury occurred in response to what was reasonably believed to be an emergency. Section 10 not applicable here, as there are no facts establishing any imminent danger to a person or property requiring an urgent response to the dispatch call.(GARMAN, FREEMAN, KILBRIDE, KARMEIER, BURKE, and THEIS, concurring.)