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Committee to draft separate bill to add volunteer ski patrols to workers' comp volunteer coverage
Summary
After public testimony from Casper Mountain ski‑patrol leaders and local officials, the committee approved drafting a separate bill to enumerate volunteer ski patrols among volunteers eligible for workers' compensation coverage; LSO was asked to draft language and estimate statewide counts.
The committee agreed to pursue a separate committee bill to add volunteer ski patrols to the enumerated list of volunteers eligible for worker‑compensation protections.
Representative Lisa Campbell (introducing the point on the floor) said volunteer ski patrols perform rescue and immediate medical care and are often treated on the hill by volunteers with EMT‑level skills. Casper Mountain Ski Patrol leaders described several incidents—including a double fatality in 2010 and recent life‑saving care—arguing volunteers face both physical and mental trauma and should not bear financial burdens from rescues.
Bill Degrave, director of Casper Mountain Ski Patrol, said patrol members served roughly 75 operating days and more than 3,200 volunteer hours last year; many patrollers have substantive medical experience but do not all carry employer coverage.
Deputy Director Jason Wolf noted that current statute explicitly enumerates which volunteers are covered (firefighters, search and rescue, ambulance personnel, game and fish volunteers, etc.), and that adding ski patrols would require amending that volunteer list under Wyoming Statute 27-14-108. He said LSO would need to draft precise language.
Committee members asked LSO to prepare draft statutory language and to estimate the number of volunteer ski patrollers statewide (committee estimate: roughly 130–140 volunteers). The committee voted to carry the volunteer‑ski‑patrol bill forward separately from the dispatcher mental‑health bill.
