LCO No. 6444 1 of 3
General Assembly Raised Bill No. 7394
January Session, 2019
LCO No. 6444
Referred to Committee on JUDICIARY
Introduced by:
(JUD)
AN ACT CONCERNING TH E PROTECTION OF CONFIDENTIAL
COMMUNICATIONS BETWE EN A FIRST RESPONDER AND A PEER
SUPPORT TEAM MEMBER.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2019) (a) As used in this 1
section: 2
(1) "Peer support team member" means any person engaged in 3
directing or staffing any peer support program established by an 4
employer for the benefit of an employee who is a first responder; 5
(2) "First responder" means: Any peace officer or firefighter, as 6
defined in section 53a-3 of the general statutes; any ambulance driver, 7
emergency medical responder, emer gency medical technician, 8
advanced emergency medical technician, or paramedic, as defined in 9
section 19a-175 of the general statutes; and any telecommunicator, as 10
defined in section 28-30 of the general statutes; and 11
(3) "Confidential communications" means all oral and written 12
communications transmitted in confidence between a first responder 13 Raised Bill No. 7394
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and a peer support team member in the course of participation in an 14
employer established peer support program and all records prepared 15
by a peer support team member in the course of the relationship with a 16
first responder. 17
(b) Except as provided in subsection (d) of this section, no peer 18
support team member shall disclose any confidential communications 19
(1) to any third person, other than a person to whom disclosure is 20
reasonably necessary for the accomplishment of the purposes for 21
which such member is consulted, (2) in any civil or criminal case or 22
proceeding, or (3) in any legislative or administrative proceeding, 23
unless the first responder making the confidential communication 24
waives the privilege. 25
(c) No person in any civil or criminal case or proceeding or in any 26
legislative or administrative proceeding may request or require 27
information from any first responder relating to the first responder's 28
participation in a peer support program, including whether or not 29
such first responder at any time participated in such peer support 30
program. 31
(d) Consent of a first responder shall not be required for the 32
disclosure of such first responder's confidential communications: 33
(1) Where mandated by any other provision of the general statutes; 34
(2) Where a peer support team member believes in good faith that 35
the failure to disclose such confidential communications presents a 36
clear and present danger to any individual, including the first 37
responder; and 38
(3) Where the peer support team member was a witness or party to 39
an incident that resulted in the delivery of peer support services to the 40
first responder. 41
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Raised Bill No. 7394
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Section 1 October 1, 2019 New section
Statement of Purpose:
To ensure the confidentiality of certain communications that take place
between a first responder and a peer support team member.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline,
except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is
not underlined.]