By: Williams S.B. No. 1065
(Hamilton)
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to critical incident stress management and crisis response
services.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subtitle B, Title 9, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by adding Chapter 784 to read as follows:
CHAPTER 784. CRITICAL INCIDENT STRESS MANAGEMENT AND CRISIS
RESPONSE SERVICES
Sec. 784.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
(1) "Crisis response service" means consultation,
risk assessment, referral, and on-site crisis intervention
services provided by an emergency response team member to an
emergency service provider affected by a crisis or disaster.
(2) "Critical incident stress" means the acute or
cumulative psychological stress or trauma that an emergency service
provider may experience in providing emergency services in response
to a critical incident, including a crisis, disaster, or emergency.
The stress or trauma is an unusually strong emotional, cognitive,
or physical reaction that has the potential to interfere with
normal functioning, including:
(A) physical and emotional illness;
(B) failure of usual coping mechanisms;
(C) loss of interest in the job;
(D) personality changes; and
(E) loss of ability to function.
(3) "Critical incident stress management service"
means a service providing a process of crisis intervention designed
to assist an emergency service provider in coping with critical
incident stress. The term includes consultation, counseling,
debriefing, defusing, intervention services, case management
services, prevention, and referral.
(4) "Emergency response team member" means an
individual providing critical incident stress management services
or crisis response services, or both, who is designated by an
appropriate state or local governmental unit to provide those
services as a member of an organized team or in association with the
governmental unit.
(5) "Emergency service provider" means an individual
who provides emergency response services, including a law
enforcement officer, firefighter, emergency medical services
provider, dispatcher, or rescue service provider.
Sec. 784.002. CLOSED MEETINGS. (a) Except as provided by
Subsection (b) and notwithstanding Chapter 551, Government Code, or
any other law, a meeting in which critical incident stress
management services or crisis response services are provided to an
emergency service provider:
(1) is closed to the general public; and
(2) may be closed to any individual who was not
directly involved in the critical incident or crisis.
(b) Subsection (a) does not apply if:
(1) the emergency service provider or the legal
representative of the provider expressly agrees that the meeting
may be open to the general public or to certain individuals; or
(2) the emergency service provider is deceased.
Sec. 784.003. CONFIDENTIALITY. (a) Except as otherwise
provided by this section:
(1) a communication made by an emergency service
provider to an emergency response team member while the provider
receives critical incident stress management services or crisis
response services is confidential and may not be disclosed in a
civil, criminal, or administrative proceeding; and
(2) a record kept by an emergency response team member
relating to the provision of critical incident stress management
services or crisis response services to an emergency service
provider by the team is confidential and is not subject to subpoena,
discovery, or introduction into evidence in a civil, criminal, or
administrative proceeding.
(b) A court in a civil or criminal case or the
decision-making entity in an administrative proceeding may allow
disclosure of a communication or record described by Subsection (a)
if the court or entity finds that the benefit of allowing disclosure
of the communication or record is more important than protecting
the privacy of the individual.
(c) A communication or record described by Subsection (a) is
not confidential if:
(1) the emergency response team member reasonably
needs to make an appropriate referral of the emergency service
provider to or consult about the provider with another member of the
team or an appropriate professional associated with the team;
(2) the communication conveys information that the
emergency service provider is or appears to be an imminent threat to
the provider or anyone else;
(3) the communication conveys information relating to
a past, present, or future criminal act that does not directly
relate to the critical incident or crisis;
(4) the emergency service provider or the legal
representative of the provider expressly agrees that the
communication or record is not confidential; or
(5) the emergency service provider is deceased.
(d) A communication or record described by Subsection (a) is
not confidential to the extent that it conveys information
concerning the services and care provided to or withheld by the
emergency service provider to an individual injured in the critical
incident or during the crisis.
Sec. 784.004. LIMITATION ON LIABILITY. (a) Except as
provided by Subsection (b), an emergency response team or an
emergency response team member providing critical incident stress
management services or crisis response services is not liable for
damages, including personal injury, wrongful death, property
damage, or other loss related to the team's or member's act, error,
or omission in the performance of the services, unless the act,
error, or omission constitutes wanton, wilful, or intentional
misconduct.
(b) Subsection (a) limits liability for damages in any civil
action, other than an action under Chapter 74, Civil Practice and
Remedies Code.
SECTION 2. Chapter 784, Health and Safety Code, as added by
this Act, applies only to critical incident stress management
services and crisis response services, as those terms are defined
by Section 784.001, Health and Safety Code, as added by this Act,
provided in relation to a critical incident or crisis that occurs on
or after the effective date of this Act.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.