Opinion ID: 1150599
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Myocardial Symptoms and the Four-Hour Requirement

Text: Under the statute, the claimant is required to show that the acute symptoms of the cardiac difficulty are manifested within four hours after the alleged causative exertion. The work-connected exertion contended for by the claimant occurred on the 17th of February during working hours ending at 5:00 p.m. The heart-attack symptom manifested itself during the afternoon of the 18th when the appellee was not involved in his employment at a time when, by his own testimony, he was not under any work-connected stress. The statutory four-hour requirement is, therefore, not complied with. We agree with the statement of the appellant when it says: There is therefore no evidence in the record to show that the acute symptoms of the Appellee's myocardial infarction were clearly manifested within four hours after any causative exertion occurring during any period of employment stress. There is a total failure of proof as to this requirement explicitly set forth in W.S. XX-XX-XXX(b). In the absence of compliance with the conditions for compensability set forth in that statute, the trial court was without authority to enter an order of award of worker's compensation benefits. We need not cite authority for our holding on this issue. The statute is not ambiguous and, therefore, we can indulge in no statutory-interpretation exercises. The plain English, understandable language of the statute speaks for itself and, therefore, settles the question. Reversed.