UNITED STATES
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

On October 17, 2011, Employee #1 was working for Maui Harvesting, a farm labor contractor in El Centro, CA. She had been thinning lettuce in a field near the intersection of Highway 98 and South Clark Street in Calexico, CA. Employee #1 was experienced in performing the job. In addition, she was acclimated to the temperature at the jobsite on that day, which was approximately 89 to 91 degrees Fahrenheit (32 to 33 degrees Celsius) at 11:00 a.m. At approximately 11:30 a.m., Employee #1 stated that she "felt bad" and took a break from work. She declined medical assistance at that time. After a lunch break from 11:45 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., the other workers at the site resumed work. Employee #1 still was not feeling better after the lunch break. She lost consciousness at approximately 1:00 p.m. Her employer called an ambulance, which took Employee #1 to El Centro Regional Medical Center. She died there. She did not exhibit or complain of any symptoms of heat illness while she was working. The coroner's report indicates that she died due to atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. The death was categorized as natural by the medical examiner. At approximately 4:30 p.m. on October 17, 2011, the Division received a call from a representative of the employer's insurance agent to notify the Division of the fatality. The notification by the representative was in compliance with the eight-hour reporting time frame required by T8CCR 342(a).