Substitute House Bill No. 7394
Public Act No. 19-188
AN ACT CONCERNING TH E PROTECTION OF CONF IDENTIAL
COMMUNICATIONS BETWE EN A FIRST RESPONDER AND A
PEER SUPPORT TEAM ME MBER.
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
section:
(1) "Peer support team member" means any person engaged in
directing or staffing any peer support program established by an
employer for the benefit of an employee who is a first responder;
(2) "First responder" means: Any peace officer, as defined in section
53a-3 of the general statutes; any firefighter, as defined in section 7-
313g of the general statutes; any person employed as a firefighter by a
private employer, any ambulance driver, emergency medical
responder, emergency medical technician, advanced emergency
medical technician or paramedic, as defined in section 19a-175 of the
general statutes; and any telecommunicator, as defined in section 28-30
of the general statutes; and
(3) "Confidential communications" means all oral and written
communications transmitted in confidence between a first responder
and a peer support team member in the course of participation in an Substitute House Bill No. 7394
Public Act No. 19-188 2 of 2
employer established peer support program and all records prepared
by a peer support team member related to such first responder's
participation in such program.
(b) Except as provided in subsection (d) of this section, and unless
the first responder making the confidential communication waives the
privilege, no peer support team member shall disclose any confidential
communications (1) to any third person, other than a person to whom
disclosure is reasonably necessary for the accomplishment of the
purposes for which such member is consulted, (2) in any civil or
criminal case or proceeding, or (3) in any legislative or administrative
proceeding.
(c) No person in any civil or criminal case or proceeding or in any
legislative or administrative proceeding may request or require
information from any first responder relating to the first responder's
participation in a peer support program, including whether or not
such first responder at any time participated in such peer support
program.
(d) Consent of a first responder shall not be required for the
disclosure of such first responder's confidential communications:
(1) Where mandated by any other provision of the general statutes;
(2) Where a peer support team member believes in good faith that
the failure to disclose such confidential communications presents a
clear and present danger to any individual, including the first
responder; and
(3) Where the peer support team member was a witness or party to
an incident that resulted in the delivery of peer support services to the
first responder.