By EMS1 Staff
ST. PAUL, Minn. — State legislators introduced a bill that would allow EMS providers to file PTSD under workers’ compensation this month.
Although the bill will provide coverage of mental impairment, it comes with stipulations. The bill does not cover PTSD if it was previously diagnosed before EMS providers began their service. Mental impairment will not be considered an occupational disease if it results from a disciplinary action, work evaluation, job transfer, layoff or any similar actions taken by the employer.
The bill was introduced by Senator Dan Schoen, who was a paramedic for five years before a career in law enforcement.
“We all know that one event, or two or three or four,” Schoen said during a public hearing. “I mean I have two handfuls of things I’ll never forget.”
The provision applies to police officers, firefighters, paramedics, EMTs and public safety dispatchers.
“We spend so much time learning how to save ourselves, how to rescue people, but we don’t give any training time to PTSD or mental health,” firefighter-paramedic Brian Cristofono told ABC5.