BEFORE THE ARKANSAS WORKERS' COMPENSATION COMMISSION CLAIM NO. G SHAWN HANSEN, Employee. CITY OF SILOAM SPRINGS, Employer

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1 BEFORE THE RKNSS WORKERS' COMPENSTION COMMISSION CLIM NO. G SHWN HNSEN, Employee CITY OF SILOM SPRINGS, Employer RKNSS MUNICIPL LEGUE, Insurance Carrier/TP CLIMNT RESPONDENT RESPONDENT OPINION FILED UGUST 15, 2016 Hearing before DMINISTRTIVE LW JUDGE ERIC PUL WELLS in Springdale, Washington County, rkansas. Claimant represented by EVELYN E. BROOKS, ttorney, Fayetteville, rkansas. Respondents represented by KTIE BODENHMER, ttorney, North Little Rock, rkansas STTEMENT OF THE CSE On May 17, 2016, the above captioned claim came on for a hearing at Springdale, rkansas. pre-hearing conference was conducted on March 9, 2016, and a pre-hearing order was filed on March 9, copy of the pre-hearing order has been marked Commission's Exhibit No. 1 and made a part of the record without objection. t the pre-hearing conference the parties agreed to the following stipulations: 1. The rkansas Workers' Compensation Commission has jurisdiction of this claim. 2. On all relevant dates, the relationship of employee-employer-carrier existed between the parties. 3. The claimant s weekly compensation rates are $ for temporary total disability and $ for permanent partial disability. By agreement of the parties the issues to litigate are limited to the following: 1. Whether claimant sustained a compensable injury to his left foot on November 5, Whether claimant is entitled to medical treatment.

2 G (Hansen) 2 3. Whether claimant is entitled to temporary total disability benefits from November 6, 2015 to January 14, Whether claimant s attorney is entitled to an attorney s fee. The claimant's contentions are as follows: On November 5, 2015, Claimant injured his left foot while working. The claimant reserves all other issues. The respondents contentions are as follows: Claimant did not sustain a compensable injury arising out of or in the course of employment. The claimant in this matter is a 32-year-old male who is employed by the respondent in a dual employment role as a firefighter and an EMT. t the hearing in this matter the claimant described his job duties as follows: On your job when you are at work, what kinds of things do you do? Busy work when we are not responding to calls. nything that -- projects around the firehouse, whether that be as simple as cleaning or manual labor type jobs. How often would you respond to a fire? That is hard to say. It would be speculation at this point, but usually fire calls happen, oh, I would say at least 10, maybe 15 a year. nd do you have other duties than responding to fires? Yes, I do. What are those? We also run LS, dvanced Life Support, ambulances from the same firehouse, so patient care, responding to emergencies with the civilians in the city. nd is it more common to have those sorts of calls than the fire calls? Yes. nd are you specially trained to help take care of patients?

3 G (Hansen) 3 That is correct. s of right now, I am an EMT basic, but I am currently in school for paramedic, which is EMT advanced, just past advanced. So when you are responding to an ambulance call, what kinds of things might you have to do? That is quite the list, as well. We have a stretcher in the back, so we tote that around with us everywhere we go. Squeezing into small places, lifting patients in excess of 200 pounds. Basically, very, very tight quarters, especially in the back of the ambulance and as well in the patients' houses or extrication of a patient from a MVC, a motor vehicle accident or something. The claimant also gave testimony on direct examination about his work schedule for the respondent as follows: Okay. Now, what was your normal shift in May of 2015? In May of 2015, normal shift is 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 a.m. the next morning. nd about how many days a week do you work? Two or three. It varies by week, depending. So when you arrive at 7:00 a.m. until you leave 24 hours later, are you able to come and go as you please? No. What are your rules about that? s far as? If you needed to run an errand. Oh, okay. Well, it has to be agreed upon by your partner or your officer and it cannot leave the city limits. nd it has to be either for the firehouse, such as a grocery run or fueling of the apparatus or something like that. It cannot be let's go to the casino type thing. It absolutely cannot. Okay. nd from 7:00 a.m. one morning to 7:00 a.m. the next morning, are there any certain hours designated for sleep?

4 G (Hansen) 4 Usually our quiet time that we observe for sleep is from 10:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. the next morning. Okay. nd does everyone sleep at once? Most of the time, yes. The claimant has asked the Commission to determine whether he suffered a compensable injury to his left foot on November 5, The claimant gave direct examination testimony about how his injury occurred, his reporting of the injury, and his initial medical treatment as follows: So what happened on May 11, 2015? If I could talk about the date just a second. I believe it is November 5 th. Oh, I'm sorry, you're right. November 5, 2015, what happened? I assume it was around 1:30 or 2:00 o'clock, I had a bad dream about spiders and I really don't like spiders and I was dreaming that they were crawling on me and I jumped out of bed and was trying to get away from the bed and struck my foot on a blunt object. I am thinking it was the entryway into the room itself on the corner. Okay. nd what happened then? I kind of came to and realized that it was just a dream and got back in bed and kind of rubbed on my foot a little bit because it hurt and just decided I was going to wait until in the morning to tell my captain. nd the next morning did you report the injury? I did. nd who did you report it to? Captain Brad Hollenback. nd did he have you fill out paperwork? He did. nd after that, did he tell you where to go for treatment?

5 G (Hansen) 5 Negative. Did you mention to him that you were going to go for treatment? I did. nd then what did you do? I went to the Community Physicians Group on Holly Street in Siloam just to get an x-ray because I wasn't sure what was necessary for finding out what was going on with my foot. Did they refer you to someone after that? They did. Who was that? Dr. Mathew Coker. Medical records introduced into evidence support the claimant s testimony. The claimant underwent surgical intervention for a break that occurred in his left fifth metatarsal. The operative report from that surgical intervention is found beginning at Claimant s Exhibit 1, Page 7. The surgical intervention was performed by Dr. Matthew Coker on November 10, Some slight differences do arise in the medical records and testimony concerning the claimant s actions when he arose from dream about spiders. Those differences are minimal and revolve around whether the claimant fell, inverted his left foot, struck his foot on a blunt object, or some combination of those events. It is clear from the claimant s credible testimony that he had not fully awaken when the injury occurred and most likely is unable to give an account that could be fully relied upon. There is no dispute between the parties as to the basic facts in this matter. The claimant was at the respondent s place of business while being paid as an employee. The claimant was sleeping as his shifts are 24 hours in length and during his slumber had a dream about spiders, which woke him. The claimant got out of bed trying to get away and injured his left fifth metatarsal.

6 G (Hansen) 6 The claimant was asked about sleeping at work since his work shift was 24 hours in length. His direct examination testimony about sleeping at work follows: Okay. nd from 7:00 a.m. one morning to 7:00 a.m. the next morning, are there any certain hours designated for sleep? Usually our quiet time that we observe for sleep is from 10:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. the next morning. Okay. nd does everyone sleep at once? Most of the time, yes. nd what kind of facilities are provided for sleeping? There are small rooms of about 10 by 10 and there is a full -- either a full or a double mattress, I am not sure which it is, that is in there as well as a desk and three stand-up lockers for personal belongings. So the rooms you said were about 10 by 10, is that an enclosed room? No. The walls around the room go up about five and a half to six feet and then it is open. There are no doors on each of the rooms, either. nd the lockers you were talking about, are those inside the 10 by 10 room? Yes. On cross-examination the claimant was asked specifically what he struck his left foot on to cause his injury as follows: Okay. Today you described your injury with some specificity. You said that you hit your foot on something hard? Uh-huh. Okay. Do you remember what that was? s far as I remember, I believe it was the corner of the entryway into the door -- or into the sleeping area because that is what I was standing by when I fully came to and realized that it was just a dream I was having.

7 G (Hansen) 7 Okay. So you weren't fully conscious when you actually injured your foot? I was conscious, but confused about where I was at the time. *** Okay. I have got Claimant's Exhibit No Page No. 5. Now, here, it looks like you told Dr. Coker something a little bit different about your injury. If you don't mind reading the highlighted portion right there. This is from Dr. Coker's notes. Dr. Coker's notes state, "I believe it was last night, and he woke up in the middle of the night, was dreaming of spiders and was trying to get away from them and jumped out of bed, fell, did not really come to until he was starting to get up and get back into bed and noticed some pain in the foot." Does it say anything about hitting your foot on a blunt object? Negative. Okay. Oh, I'm sorry, could you let us know the date of that report. 11/5 of '15. nd that was the date of your injury? Correct. *** nd then just one more record I'd like you to take a look at. This is also -- this is your operative report the day of your surgery. Go ahead and tell us the date that is on there. 11/10 of '15. Okay. nd that was the date of your surgery; is that right? Correct. Okay. nd if you don't mind reading the highlighted portion where they describe how you injured your foot.

8 G (Hansen) 8 "The patient is a 31-year-old male who got up in the middle of night one night. He thought he had some spiders on, was jumping around and injured his foot when he inverted it." When he inverted it. Okay. Thank you. Now, you indicated there were no witnesses to your accident? That is correct. It is the claimant s burden to prove that he sustained a compensable injury to his left foot on November 5, The claimant is able to prove the existence of objective medical findings regarding such an injury as evidenced by Dr. Coker s November 10, 2015 operative report. However, the question arises as to whether the claimant was performing employment services for the respondent at the time of his undisputed injury. The claimant s work shift is 24 hours long. The respondent provides sleeping accommodations for employees and encourages sleep. The claimant was not involved in any activities that he described in testimony as job duties. In fact, he was sleeping so that his body could be rested to provide those job duties if called upon by the respondent. Given the nature of the claimant s work, his 24 hour work schedule, and the respondent s provisions of a place for employees to sleep, it is reasonable that the claimant s state of sleep either directly or indirectly benefitted his employer. The claimant had a dream while sleeping. That dream was about spiders falling upon him. While the claimant s sleep did benefit his employer, his dream about spiders falling upon him is idiopathic in nature. It is the dream that caused the claimant to jump or move from his bed and sleep. The claimant s dream about spiders is in no way related to his job duties and is instead idiopathic in nature. Finally, the Commission must consider whether the claimant was placed into a position of risk due to his employment activities, even if his injuries were started or sprang from an idiopathic event. Here, the claimant was simply sleeping in a bed that was within a room that has previously been described earlier in this Opinion through testimony by the

9 G (Hansen) 9 claimant. There appears to be no added danger or risk from the claimant s sleeping quarters. It is reasonable that the claimant would have experienced the same type of sleeping conditions at home in his own bed. However here, the claimant had a dream about spiders while in a bed provided by the respondents. That dream, which was an idiopathic event, happened during his time at the respondent s place of business. The claimant has failed to prove that he suffered a compensable injury in this matter. From a review of the record as a whole, to include medical reports, documents, and other matters properly before the Commission, and having had an opportunity to hear the testimony of the witness and to observe his demeanor, the following findings of fact and conclusions of law are made in accordance with.c : FINDINGS OF FCT & CONCLUSIONS OF LW 1. The stipulations agreed to by the parties at the pre-hearing conference conducted on March 9, 2016, and contained in a pre-hearing order filed March 9, 2016, are hereby accepted as fact. 2. The claimant has failed to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that he sustained a compensable injury to his left foot on November 5, The claimant has failed to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that he is entitled to medical treatment in this matter. 4. The claimant has failed to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that he is entitled to temporary total disability benefits. 5. The claimant has failed to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that his attorney is entitled to an attorney s fee. ORDER Pursuant to the above findings and conclusions, I have no alternative but to deny this claim in its entirety.

10 G (Hansen) 10 If they have not already done so, the respondents are directed to pay the court reporter, Veronica Lane, fees and expenses within thirty (30) days of receipt of the invoice. IT IS SO ORDERED. ERIC PUL WELLS DMINISTRTIVE LW JUDGE