TLDR: I work manual labor and boss convinced me to go to ER when I started having chest pain. Doctor said it was probably heat related and fear of heart attack may have exacerbated symptoms. Workers comp denied my claim. What are my options? Can I appeal?
I work a physically demanding job and probably 90% of my time is spent outside. Recently I was working in 95⁰ heat and high humidity, after a week of 100-102⁰ days. After 5 hours or so I went to lunch and within 5 minutes of getting to AC to eat, I started having extreme chest pain, bad enough that I couldn't speak to ask for help. I panicked. Started hyperventilating, got cold sweats, the room started spinning, the whole 9 yards.
My boss, “L” (2 levels above me) noticed and started trying to calm me down and talk through it. L suspected heart attack and called her boss, “B” to ask what we should do. B has a history of heart problems and convinced me I needed to go to the Emergency Room immediately. B personally drove me and after I was taken back for evaluation, he called our organization HR to start a workers comp claim for me.
Good news, it wasn't a heart attack. Bad news, I had to wait in the ER over 8 hours since I wasn't in immediate danger.
After the long wait, the doctor asked me a lot of questions about what I'd been doing that day. Then said something to the effect of “I can't say with complete certainty what caused your chest pain but in my professional opinion the symptom came from working hard out in the heat. It's also possible once you started having the pain and your coworkers showed concern, you got scared that it was a heart attack and your anxiety heightened your symptoms.” He talked for a long time about staying hydrated, making sure I replenish electrolytes, and taking regular breaks. Then a nurse came in and went over the same information. I was discharged and went home.
This happened on a Friday and I was discharged after office hours, so I couldn't follow up with my workers comp case manager. Their office is closed on weekends but I followed up Monday with my discharge paperwork. Unfortunately I didn't notice that my discharge paperwork listed “Symptoms: chest pain. Diagnosis: chest pain.”
Workers comp had me get a copy of my complete file from that visit since the discharge paperwork was vague. I got it and sent it over. I looked through and saw the only time heat was mentioned was in the doctor's notes and nurse's notes, both of which said basically what the doctor told me and how I was advised on hydration, taking breaks, etc.
Yesterday I received a notice from workers comp. My claim was denied because my “injury was due to an internal breakdown.” They claim the injury was not “arising out of and in the course of your employment.” And there's verbage that suggests the claim wasn't filed in accordance with the law, which is out of my hands given that I reported the symptoms to my boss and they failed to initiate the paperwork before seeking treatment. But also why should they have done paperwork before getting me to the hospital? They thought I was in an emergency situation.
What can I do? Is there an appeal process? Is this situation really not eligible for workers comp coverage? Sorry for the rant. I'm really overwhelmed