Overview

Senate Bill 170 of the 2025 Legislative Session amends NRS Chapter 617 to expand the physical examination required of firefighters, arson investigators, and police officers, and to create a new annual cancer screening requirement for paid and volunteer firefighters. The bill takes effect July 1, 2026, and applies to all member entities other than the Executive Department of the State Government.

Three Substantive Changes

• New annual cancer screening. Paid and volunteer firefighters must submit to a cancer screening upon commencement of coverage and annually thereafter, with an additional upon-employment screening at the employer's election. NRS 617.453(11).
• Expanded heart and lung physical examination content. The bill replaces the prior, abbreviated examination protocol with a comprehensive enumerated list of required components, including a 13-component hands-on physical, a 22-test blood analysis, spirometry, posterior-anterior chest x-ray, resting and age-triggered stress electrocardiograms, and age-triggered coronary calcium scoring. NRS 617.454(3).
• Provider qualification. When possible, all examinations and screenings must be administered by a physician licensed under NRS Chapter 630 or 633, or an advanced practice registered nurse licensed under NRS 632.237, who is knowledgeable about the physical demands of firefighting and law enforcement. NRS 617.454(2).

Examination and screening costs continue to be borne by the employer, consistent with prior law.

Resources

The following resources are available to member entities:

1. SB 170 (2025), Enrolled Text. 
2. SB 170 Information Sheet. Five-page summary of the statutory changes, employer obligations, required testing, the NRS 617.454(5) opt-out, and the relationship between SB 170 and existing NAC Chapter 617. 
3. SB 170 Compliance Checklist. Single-form operational checklist for use by the examining physician and the employer's risk officer to document compliance with each statutory requirement, with line-by-line authority citations. 
4. SB 170 Employee Awareness Module. Short educational video for covered employees explaining the new examination components and the rights afforded under NRS 617.454(5) and NRS 617.454(7).

You can find all of these resources in our Resource Library here.

Suggested Implementation Steps

1. Review the Information Sheet to confirm understanding of the new obligations.
2. Adopt the Compliance Checklist, or an adapted version, into the examination workflow before the first post-July 1, 2026 examination.
3. Distribute the Employee Awareness Module to all covered employees.

Contact

For questions about implementation, provider qualification, or coordination with existing examination contracts, please contact POOL/PACT Risk Management (marshallsmith@poolpact.com, jarrodhickman@poolpact.com) or (775)885-7475.