Nicole Morris, a pregnant Indian River County firefighter who has been pleading for months for light duty, has finally been given the assignment.
WPTV reports that Morris, who is now 33 weeks pregnant, began asking Indian River County Fire Chief John King to help her protect her unborn child just months into her pregnancy.
She originally did not ask for light duty but rather a chance to max out the number of shifts she could exchange with other firefighters. She had hoped to work for those firefighters early in her pregnancy so they could in turn work for her after she gave birth, but only nine of 12 shift exchanges were approved by King.
Indian River County is one of only two counties in Florida with no light duty option for pregnant firefighters.
It finally took a scare in her pregnancy for light duty to be considered. Morris said she started going into pre-term labor at just 31 weeks, and her doctor subsequently wrote a letter ordering her to be placed on light duty.
According to firefighters, incoming Fire Chief Tad Stone pushed for Morris to be given the assignment, which began Monday.
