(a) Any member of a rescue squad or EMS service who is eligible for membership in the Association and who has attended a minimum of 36 hours of training in the last calendar year; and each rescue squad or EMS service whose members are eligible for membership in the Association who has filed a roster certifying to the Secretary-Treasurer who certifies to the Commissioner of Insurance by January 1 of each calendar year that all eligible members have met the requirements, shall be eligible for the Fund. Any eligible member who, in the actual discharge of his or her duties as rescue or EMS personnel, is (1) made sick by disease contracted or (2) becomes disabled, shall be entitled to the benefits from the Fund.

(b) Any organized rescue squad or EMS service in North Carolina holding itself ready for duty may, upon compliance with the requirements of the constitution and by-laws of the Association, be eligible for membership in the Fund.

(c) The line of duty entitling one to participate in the Fund shall be so construed as to mean actual rescue or EMS duty only. (1987, c. 584, s. 5; 2015-88, s. 6.)