(a) A person who is injured during the course and within the scope of providing service as a volunteer emergency medical technician is an employee of the state for purposes of this chapter if the person
(1) is certified by the state under AS 18.08 as an emergency medical technician or is an active roster volunteer member of a state certified emergency medical service and is registered with the Department of Health and Social Services;
(2) provides emergency medical service outside an incorporated city or borough; and
(3) is not otherwise covered for that injury by an employer's workers' compensation insurance policy or self-insurance certificate.
(b) The gross weekly earnings for a person receiving benefits under this section shall be the minimum gross weekly earnings paid a full-time emergency medical technician employed in the city or borough nearest to the place where the injury occurred, or, if the nearest city or borough has no full-time emergency medical technician, at a reasonable figure previously set by the nearest city or borough to make this determination, but in no case may the gross weekly earnings for calculating compensation be less than the minimum wage computed on the basis of 40 hours of work a week.