1 | 1 | | I |
---|
2 | 2 | | 119THCONGRESS |
---|
3 | 3 | | 1 |
---|
4 | 4 | | STSESSION H. R. 1902 |
---|
5 | 5 | | To require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to improve the |
---|
6 | 6 | | detection, prevention, and treatment of mental health issues among public |
---|
7 | 7 | | safety officers, and for other purposes. |
---|
8 | 8 | | IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
---|
9 | 9 | | MARCH6, 2025 |
---|
10 | 10 | | Mr. B |
---|
11 | 11 | | ERA(for himself, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. MRVAN, Ms. NORTON, Ms. |
---|
12 | 12 | | D |
---|
13 | 13 | | EANof Pennsylvania, Ms. WASSERMANSCHULTZ, Ms. CHU, Mr. HARD- |
---|
14 | 14 | | ERof California, Mr. POCAN, Mrs. WATSONCOLEMAN, Mr. MAGAZINER, |
---|
15 | 15 | | Mr. V |
---|
16 | 16 | | ANDREW, Mr. HUFFMAN, Mr. LYNCH, Mr. KENNEDYof New |
---|
17 | 17 | | York, Mr. C |
---|
18 | 18 | | ASTEN, Mr. PANETTA, Mr. BACON, Mr. LATIMER, Ms. TITUS, |
---|
19 | 19 | | Mr. S |
---|
20 | 20 | | MITHof Washington, Mr. THANEDAR, Ms. BROWN, and Mr. |
---|
21 | 21 | | C |
---|
22 | 22 | | ARBAJAL) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- |
---|
23 | 23 | | mittee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on |
---|
24 | 24 | | Science, Space, and Technology, for a period to be subsequently deter- |
---|
25 | 25 | | mined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions |
---|
26 | 26 | | as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned |
---|
27 | 27 | | A BILL |
---|
28 | 28 | | To require the Secretary of Health and Human Services |
---|
29 | 29 | | to improve the detection, prevention, and treatment of |
---|
30 | 30 | | mental health issues among public safety officers, and |
---|
31 | 31 | | for other purposes. |
---|
32 | 32 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 |
---|
33 | 33 | | tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 |
---|
34 | 34 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:03 Mar 19, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1902.IH H1902 |
---|
35 | 35 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 2 |
---|
36 | 36 | | •HR 1902 IH |
---|
37 | 37 | | SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 |
---|
38 | 38 | | This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Helping Emergency 2 |
---|
39 | 39 | | Responders Overcome Act’’ or the ‘‘HERO Act’’. 3 |
---|
40 | 40 | | SEC. 2. DATA SYSTEM TO CAPTURE NATIONAL PUBLIC 4 |
---|
41 | 41 | | SAFETY OFFICER SUICIDE INCIDENCE. 5 |
---|
42 | 42 | | The Public Health Service Act is amended by insert-6 |
---|
43 | 43 | | ing after section 317V of such Act (42 U.S.C. 247b–24) 7 |
---|
44 | 44 | | the following: 8 |
---|
45 | 45 | | ‘‘SEC. 317W. DATA SYSTEM TO CAPTURE NATIONAL PUBLIC 9 |
---|
46 | 46 | | SAFETY OFFICER SUICIDE INCIDENCE. 10 |
---|
47 | 47 | | ‘‘(a) I |
---|
48 | 48 | | NGENERAL.—The Secretary, in coordination 11 |
---|
49 | 49 | | with the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and 12 |
---|
50 | 50 | | Prevention and other agencies as the Secretary determines 13 |
---|
51 | 51 | | appropriate, may— 14 |
---|
52 | 52 | | ‘‘(1) develop and maintain a data system, to be 15 |
---|
53 | 53 | | known as the Public Safety Officer Suicide Report-16 |
---|
54 | 54 | | ing System, for the purposes of— 17 |
---|
55 | 55 | | ‘‘(A) collecting data on the suicide inci-18 |
---|
56 | 56 | | dence among public safety officers; and 19 |
---|
57 | 57 | | ‘‘(B) facilitating the study of successful 20 |
---|
58 | 58 | | interventions to reduce suicide among public 21 |
---|
59 | 59 | | safety officers; and 22 |
---|
60 | 60 | | ‘‘(2) integrate such system into the National 23 |
---|
61 | 61 | | Violent Death Reporting System, so long as the Sec-24 |
---|
62 | 62 | | retary determines such integration to be consistent 25 |
---|
63 | 63 | | with the purposes described in paragraph (1). 26 |
---|
64 | 64 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:03 Mar 19, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1902.IH H1902 |
---|
65 | 65 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 3 |
---|
66 | 66 | | •HR 1902 IH |
---|
67 | 67 | | ‘‘(b) DATACOLLECTION.—In collecting data for the 1 |
---|
68 | 68 | | Public Safety Officer Suicide Reporting System, the Sec-2 |
---|
69 | 69 | | retary shall, at a minimum, collect the following informa-3 |
---|
70 | 70 | | tion: 4 |
---|
71 | 71 | | ‘‘(1) The total number of suicides in the United 5 |
---|
72 | 72 | | States among all public safety officers in a given cal-6 |
---|
73 | 73 | | endar year. 7 |
---|
74 | 74 | | ‘‘(2) Suicide rates for public safety officers in 8 |
---|
75 | 75 | | a given calendar year, disaggregated by— 9 |
---|
76 | 76 | | ‘‘(A) age and gender of the public safety 10 |
---|
77 | 77 | | officer; 11 |
---|
78 | 78 | | ‘‘(B) State; 12 |
---|
79 | 79 | | ‘‘(C) occupation; including both the indi-13 |
---|
80 | 80 | | vidual’s role in their public safety agency and 14 |
---|
81 | 81 | | their primary occupation in the case of volun-15 |
---|
82 | 82 | | teer public safety officers; 16 |
---|
83 | 83 | | ‘‘(D) where available, the status of the 17 |
---|
84 | 84 | | public safety officer as volunteer, paid-on-call, 18 |
---|
85 | 85 | | or career; and 19 |
---|
86 | 86 | | ‘‘(E) status of the public safety officer as 20 |
---|
87 | 87 | | active or retired. 21 |
---|
88 | 88 | | ‘‘(c) C |
---|
89 | 89 | | ONSULTATION DURINGDEVELOPMENT.—In 22 |
---|
90 | 90 | | developing the Public Safety Officer Suicide Reporting 23 |
---|
91 | 91 | | System, the Secretary shall consult with non-Federal ex-24 |
---|
92 | 92 | | perts to determine the best means to collect data regard-25 |
---|
93 | 93 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:03 Mar 19, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1902.IH H1902 |
---|
94 | 94 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 4 |
---|
95 | 95 | | •HR 1902 IH |
---|
96 | 96 | | ing suicide incidence in a safe, sensitive, anonymous, and 1 |
---|
97 | 97 | | effective manner. Such non-Federal experts shall include, 2 |
---|
98 | 98 | | as appropriate, the following: 3 |
---|
99 | 99 | | ‘‘(1) Public health experts with experience in 4 |
---|
100 | 100 | | developing and maintaining suicide registries. 5 |
---|
101 | 101 | | ‘‘(2) Organizations that track suicide among 6 |
---|
102 | 102 | | public safety officers. 7 |
---|
103 | 103 | | ‘‘(3) Mental health experts with experience in 8 |
---|
104 | 104 | | studying suicide and other profession-related trau-9 |
---|
105 | 105 | | matic stress. 10 |
---|
106 | 106 | | ‘‘(4) Clinicians with experience in diagnosing 11 |
---|
107 | 107 | | and treating mental health issues. 12 |
---|
108 | 108 | | ‘‘(5) Active and retired volunteer, paid-on-call, 13 |
---|
109 | 109 | | and career public safety officers. 14 |
---|
110 | 110 | | ‘‘(6) Relevant national police, and fire and 15 |
---|
111 | 111 | | emergency medical services, organizations. 16 |
---|
112 | 112 | | ‘‘(d) D |
---|
113 | 113 | | ATAPRIVACY ANDSECURITY.—In developing 17 |
---|
114 | 114 | | and maintaining the Public Safety Officer Suicide Report-18 |
---|
115 | 115 | | ing System, the Secretary shall ensure that all applicable 19 |
---|
116 | 116 | | Federal privacy and security protections are followed to 20 |
---|
117 | 117 | | ensure that— 21 |
---|
118 | 118 | | ‘‘(1) the confidentiality and anonymity of sui-22 |
---|
119 | 119 | | cide victims and their families are protected, includ-23 |
---|
120 | 120 | | ing so as to ensure that data cannot be used to deny 24 |
---|
121 | 121 | | benefits; and 25 |
---|
122 | 122 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:03 Mar 19, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1902.IH H1902 |
---|
123 | 123 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 5 |
---|
124 | 124 | | •HR 1902 IH |
---|
125 | 125 | | ‘‘(2) data is sufficiently secure to prevent unau-1 |
---|
126 | 126 | | thorized access. 2 |
---|
127 | 127 | | ‘‘(e) R |
---|
128 | 128 | | EPORTING.— 3 |
---|
129 | 129 | | ‘‘(1) A |
---|
130 | 130 | | NNUAL REPORT.—Not later than 2 years 4 |
---|
131 | 131 | | after the date of enactment of the Helping Emer-5 |
---|
132 | 132 | | gency Responders Overcome Act, and biannually 6 |
---|
133 | 133 | | thereafter, the Secretary shall submit a report to the 7 |
---|
134 | 134 | | Congress on the suicide incidence among public safe-8 |
---|
135 | 135 | | ty officers. Each such report shall— 9 |
---|
136 | 136 | | ‘‘(A) include the number and rate of such 10 |
---|
137 | 137 | | suicide incidence, disaggregated by age, gender, 11 |
---|
138 | 138 | | and State of employment; 12 |
---|
139 | 139 | | ‘‘(B) identify characteristics and contrib-13 |
---|
140 | 140 | | uting circumstances for suicide among public 14 |
---|
141 | 141 | | safety officers; 15 |
---|
142 | 142 | | ‘‘(C) disaggregate rates of suicide by— 16 |
---|
143 | 143 | | ‘‘(i) occupation; 17 |
---|
144 | 144 | | ‘‘(ii) status as volunteer, paid-on-call, 18 |
---|
145 | 145 | | or career; and 19 |
---|
146 | 146 | | ‘‘(iii) status as active or retired; 20 |
---|
147 | 147 | | ‘‘(D) include recommendations for further 21 |
---|
148 | 148 | | study regarding the suicide incidence among 22 |
---|
149 | 149 | | public safety officers; 23 |
---|
150 | 150 | | ‘‘(E) specify in detail, if found, any obsta-24 |
---|
151 | 151 | | cles in collecting suicide rates for volunteers 25 |
---|
152 | 152 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:03 Mar 19, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1902.IH H1902 |
---|
153 | 153 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 6 |
---|
154 | 154 | | •HR 1902 IH |
---|
155 | 155 | | and include recommended improvements to 1 |
---|
156 | 156 | | overcome such obstacles; 2 |
---|
157 | 157 | | ‘‘(F) identify options for interventions to 3 |
---|
158 | 158 | | reduce suicide among public safety officers; and 4 |
---|
159 | 159 | | ‘‘(G) describe procedures to ensure the 5 |
---|
160 | 160 | | confidentiality and anonymity of suicide victims 6 |
---|
161 | 161 | | and their families, as described in subsection 7 |
---|
162 | 162 | | (d)(1). 8 |
---|
163 | 163 | | ‘‘(2) P |
---|
164 | 164 | | UBLIC AVAILABILITY.—Upon the submis-9 |
---|
165 | 165 | | sion of each report to the Congress under paragraph 10 |
---|
166 | 166 | | (1), the Secretary shall make the full report publicly 11 |
---|
167 | 167 | | available on the website of the Centers for Disease 12 |
---|
168 | 168 | | Control and Prevention. 13 |
---|
169 | 169 | | ‘‘(f) D |
---|
170 | 170 | | EFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘public 14 |
---|
171 | 171 | | safety officer’ means— 15 |
---|
172 | 172 | | ‘‘(1) a public safety officer, as defined in sec-16 |
---|
173 | 173 | | tion 1204 of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 17 |
---|
174 | 174 | | Streets Act of 1968; or 18 |
---|
175 | 175 | | ‘‘(2) a public safety telecommunicator, as de-19 |
---|
176 | 176 | | scribed in detailed occupation 43–5031 in the Stand-20 |
---|
177 | 177 | | ard Occupational Classification Manual of the Office 21 |
---|
178 | 178 | | of Management and Budget (2018). 22 |
---|
179 | 179 | | ‘‘(g) P |
---|
180 | 180 | | ROHIBITEDUSE OFINFORMATION.—Notwith-23 |
---|
181 | 181 | | standing any other provision of law, if an individual is 24 |
---|
182 | 182 | | identified as deceased based on information contained in 25 |
---|
183 | 183 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:03 Mar 19, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1902.IH H1902 |
---|
184 | 184 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 7 |
---|
185 | 185 | | •HR 1902 IH |
---|
186 | 186 | | the Public Safety Officer Suicide Reporting System, such 1 |
---|
187 | 187 | | information may not be used to deny or rescind life insur-2 |
---|
188 | 188 | | ance payments or other benefits to a survivor of the de-3 |
---|
189 | 189 | | ceased individual.’’. 4 |
---|
190 | 190 | | SEC. 3. PEER-SUPPORT BEHAVIORAL HEALTH AND 5 |
---|
191 | 191 | | WELLNESS PROGRAMS WITHIN FIRE DEPART-6 |
---|
192 | 192 | | MENTS AND EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICE 7 |
---|
193 | 193 | | AGENCIES. 8 |
---|
194 | 194 | | (a) I |
---|
195 | 195 | | NGENERAL.—Part B of title III of the Public 9 |
---|
196 | 196 | | Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 243 et seq.) is amended 10 |
---|
197 | 197 | | by adding at the end the following: 11 |
---|
198 | 198 | | ‘‘SEC. 320C. PEER-SUPPORT BEHAVIORAL HEALTH AND 12 |
---|
199 | 199 | | WELLNESS PROGRAMS WITHIN FIRE DEPART-13 |
---|
200 | 200 | | MENTS AND EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICE 14 |
---|
201 | 201 | | AGENCIES. 15 |
---|
202 | 202 | | ‘‘(a) I |
---|
203 | 203 | | NGENERAL.—The Secretary may award grants 16 |
---|
204 | 204 | | to eligible entities for the purpose of establishing or en-17 |
---|
205 | 205 | | hancing peer-support behavioral health and wellness pro-18 |
---|
206 | 206 | | grams within fire departments and emergency medical 19 |
---|
207 | 207 | | services agencies. 20 |
---|
208 | 208 | | ‘‘(b) P |
---|
209 | 209 | | ROGRAMDESCRIPTION.—A peer-support be-21 |
---|
210 | 210 | | havioral health and wellness program funded under this 22 |
---|
211 | 211 | | section shall— 23 |
---|
212 | 212 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:03 Mar 19, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1902.IH H1902 |
---|
213 | 213 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 8 |
---|
214 | 214 | | •HR 1902 IH |
---|
215 | 215 | | ‘‘(1) use career and volunteer members of fire 1 |
---|
216 | 216 | | departments or emergency medical services agencies 2 |
---|
217 | 217 | | to serve as peer counselors; 3 |
---|
218 | 218 | | ‘‘(2) provide training to members of career, vol-4 |
---|
219 | 219 | | unteer, and combination fire departments or emer-5 |
---|
220 | 220 | | gency medical service agencies to serve as such peer 6 |
---|
221 | 221 | | counselors; 7 |
---|
222 | 222 | | ‘‘(3) purchase materials to be used exclusively 8 |
---|
223 | 223 | | to provide such training; and 9 |
---|
224 | 224 | | ‘‘(4) disseminate such information and mate-10 |
---|
225 | 225 | | rials as are necessary to conduct the program. 11 |
---|
226 | 226 | | ‘‘(c) D |
---|
227 | 227 | | EFINITION.—In this section: 12 |
---|
228 | 228 | | ‘‘(1) The term ‘eligible entity’ means a non-13 |
---|
229 | 229 | | profit organization with expertise and experience 14 |
---|
230 | 230 | | with respect to the health and life safety of members 15 |
---|
231 | 231 | | of fire and emergency medical services agencies. 16 |
---|
232 | 232 | | ‘‘(2) The term ‘member’— 17 |
---|
233 | 233 | | ‘‘(A) with respect to an emergency medical 18 |
---|
234 | 234 | | services agency, means an employee, regardless 19 |
---|
235 | 235 | | of rank or whether the employee receives com-20 |
---|
236 | 236 | | pensation (as defined in section 1204(7) of the 21 |
---|
237 | 237 | | Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 22 |
---|
238 | 238 | | 1968); and 23 |
---|
239 | 239 | | ‘‘(B) with respect to a fire department, 24 |
---|
240 | 240 | | means any employee, regardless of rank or 25 |
---|
241 | 241 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:03 Mar 19, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1902.IH H1902 |
---|
242 | 242 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 9 |
---|
243 | 243 | | •HR 1902 IH |
---|
244 | 244 | | whether the employee receives compensation, of 1 |
---|
245 | 245 | | a Federal, State, Tribal, or local fire depart-2 |
---|
246 | 246 | | ment who is responsible for responding to calls 3 |
---|
247 | 247 | | for emergency service.’’. 4 |
---|
248 | 248 | | (b) T |
---|
249 | 249 | | ECHNICALCORRECTION.—Effective as if in-5 |
---|
250 | 250 | | cluded in the enactment of the Children’s Health Act of 6 |
---|
251 | 251 | | 2000 (Public Law 106–310), the amendment instruction 7 |
---|
252 | 252 | | in section 1603 of such Act is amended by striking ‘‘Part 8 |
---|
253 | 253 | | B of the Public Health Service Act’’ and inserting ‘‘Part 9 |
---|
254 | 254 | | B of title III of the Public Health Service Act’’. 10 |
---|
255 | 255 | | SEC. 4. HEALTH CARE PROVIDER BEHAVIORAL HEALTH 11 |
---|
256 | 256 | | AND WELLNESS PROGRAMS. 12 |
---|
257 | 257 | | Part B of title III of the Public Health Service Act 13 |
---|
258 | 258 | | (42 U.S.C. 243 et seq.), as amended by section 3, is fur-14 |
---|
259 | 259 | | ther amended by adding at the end the following: 15 |
---|
260 | 260 | | ‘‘SEC. 320D. HEALTH CARE PROVIDER BEHAVIORAL 16 |
---|
261 | 261 | | HEALTH AND WELLNESS PROGRAMS. 17 |
---|
262 | 262 | | ‘‘(a) I |
---|
263 | 263 | | NGENERAL.—The Secretary may award grants 18 |
---|
264 | 264 | | to eligible entities for the purpose of establishing or en-19 |
---|
265 | 265 | | hancing behavioral health and wellness programs for 20 |
---|
266 | 266 | | health care providers. 21 |
---|
267 | 267 | | ‘‘(b) P |
---|
268 | 268 | | ROGRAMDESCRIPTION.—A behavioral health 22 |
---|
269 | 269 | | and wellness program funded under this section shall— 23 |
---|
270 | 270 | | ‘‘(1) provide confidential support services for 24 |
---|
271 | 271 | | health care providers to help handle stressful or 25 |
---|
272 | 272 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:03 Mar 19, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1902.IH H1902 |
---|
273 | 273 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 10 |
---|
274 | 274 | | •HR 1902 IH |
---|
275 | 275 | | traumatic patient-related events, including coun-1 |
---|
276 | 276 | | seling services and wellness seminars; 2 |
---|
277 | 277 | | ‘‘(2) provide training to health care providers to 3 |
---|
278 | 278 | | serve as peer counselors to other health care pro-4 |
---|
279 | 279 | | viders; 5 |
---|
280 | 280 | | ‘‘(3) purchase materials to be used exclusively 6 |
---|
281 | 281 | | to provide such training; and 7 |
---|
282 | 282 | | ‘‘(4) disseminate such information and mate-8 |
---|
283 | 283 | | rials as are necessary to conduct such training and 9 |
---|
284 | 284 | | provide such peer counseling. 10 |
---|
285 | 285 | | ‘‘(c) D |
---|
286 | 286 | | EFINITIONS.—In this section, the term ‘eligible 11 |
---|
287 | 287 | | entity’ means a hospital, including a critical access hos-12 |
---|
288 | 288 | | pital (as defined in section 1861(mm)(1) of the Social Se-13 |
---|
289 | 289 | | curity Act) or a disproportionate share hospital (as defined 14 |
---|
290 | 290 | | in section 1923(a)(1)(A) of such Act), a Federally-quali-15 |
---|
291 | 291 | | fied health center (as defined in section 1905(1)(2)(B) of 16 |
---|
292 | 292 | | such Act), or any other health care facility.’’. 17 |
---|
293 | 293 | | SEC. 5. DEVELOPMENT OF RESOURCES FOR EDUCATING 18 |
---|
294 | 294 | | MENTAL HEALTH PROFESSIONALS ABOUT 19 |
---|
295 | 295 | | TREATING FIRE FIGHTERS AND EMERGENCY 20 |
---|
296 | 296 | | MEDICAL SERVICES PERSONNEL. 21 |
---|
297 | 297 | | (a) I |
---|
298 | 298 | | NGENERAL.—The Administrator of the United 22 |
---|
299 | 299 | | States Fire Administration, in consultation with the Sec-23 |
---|
300 | 300 | | retary of Health and Human Services, shall develop and 24 |
---|
301 | 301 | | make publicly available resources that may be used by the 25 |
---|
302 | 302 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:03 Mar 19, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1902.IH H1902 |
---|
303 | 303 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 11 |
---|
304 | 304 | | •HR 1902 IH |
---|
305 | 305 | | Federal Government and other entities to educate mental 1 |
---|
306 | 306 | | health professionals about— 2 |
---|
307 | 307 | | (1) the culture of Federal, State, Tribal, and 3 |
---|
308 | 308 | | local career, volunteer, and combination fire depart-4 |
---|
309 | 309 | | ments and emergency medical services agencies; 5 |
---|
310 | 310 | | (2) the different stressors experienced by fire-6 |
---|
311 | 311 | | fighters and emergency medical services personnel, 7 |
---|
312 | 312 | | supervisory firefighters and emergency medical serv-8 |
---|
313 | 313 | | ices personnel, and chief officers of fire departments 9 |
---|
314 | 314 | | and emergency medical services agencies; 10 |
---|
315 | 315 | | (3) challenges encountered by retired fire-11 |
---|
316 | 316 | | fighters and emergency medical services personnel; 12 |
---|
317 | 317 | | and 13 |
---|
318 | 318 | | (4) evidence-based therapies for mental health 14 |
---|
319 | 319 | | issues common to firefighters and emergency med-15 |
---|
320 | 320 | | ical services personnel within such departments and 16 |
---|
321 | 321 | | agencies. 17 |
---|
322 | 322 | | (b) C |
---|
323 | 323 | | ONSULTATION.—In developing resources under 18 |
---|
324 | 324 | | subsection (a), the Administrator of the United States 19 |
---|
325 | 325 | | Fire Administration and the Secretary of Health and 20 |
---|
326 | 326 | | Human Services shall consult with national fire and emer-21 |
---|
327 | 327 | | gency medical services organizations. 22 |
---|
328 | 328 | | (c) D |
---|
329 | 329 | | EFINITIONS.—In this section: 23 |
---|
330 | 330 | | (1) C |
---|
331 | 331 | | HIEF OFFICER.—The term ‘‘chief officer’’ 24 |
---|
332 | 332 | | means any individual who is responsible for the over-25 |
---|
333 | 333 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:03 Mar 19, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1902.IH H1902 |
---|
334 | 334 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 12 |
---|
335 | 335 | | •HR 1902 IH |
---|
336 | 336 | | all operation of a fire department or an emergency 1 |
---|
337 | 337 | | medical services agency, irrespective of whether such 2 |
---|
338 | 338 | | individual also serves as a firefighter or emergency 3 |
---|
339 | 339 | | medical services personnel. 4 |
---|
340 | 340 | | (2) E |
---|
341 | 341 | | MERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES PER -5 |
---|
342 | 342 | | SONNEL.—The term ‘‘emergency medical services 6 |
---|
343 | 343 | | personnel’’ means any employee, regardless of rank 7 |
---|
344 | 344 | | or whether the employee receives compensation, as 8 |
---|
345 | 345 | | defined in section 1204(7) of the Omnibus Crime 9 |
---|
346 | 346 | | Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10 |
---|
347 | 347 | | 10284(7)). 11 |
---|
348 | 348 | | (3) F |
---|
349 | 349 | | IREFIGHTER.—The term ‘‘firefighter’’ 12 |
---|
350 | 350 | | means any employee, regardless of rank or whether 13 |
---|
351 | 351 | | the employee receives compensation, of a Federal, 14 |
---|
352 | 352 | | State, Tribal, or local fire department who is respon-15 |
---|
353 | 353 | | sible for responding to calls for emergency service. 16 |
---|
354 | 354 | | SEC. 6. BEST PRACTICES AND OTHER RESOURCES FOR AD-17 |
---|
355 | 355 | | DRESSING POSTTRAUMATIC STRESS DIS-18 |
---|
356 | 356 | | ORDER IN PUBLIC SAFETY OFFICERS. 19 |
---|
357 | 357 | | (a) D |
---|
358 | 358 | | EVELOPMENT; UPDATES.—The Secretary of 20 |
---|
359 | 359 | | Health and Human Services shall— 21 |
---|
360 | 360 | | (1) develop and assemble evidence-based best 22 |
---|
361 | 361 | | practices and other resources to identify, prevent, 23 |
---|
362 | 362 | | and treat posttraumatic stress disorder and co-oc-24 |
---|
363 | 363 | | curring disorders in public safety officers; and 25 |
---|
364 | 364 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:03 Mar 19, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1902.IH H1902 |
---|
365 | 365 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 13 |
---|
366 | 366 | | •HR 1902 IH |
---|
367 | 367 | | (2) reassess and update, as the Secretary deter-1 |
---|
368 | 368 | | mines necessary, such best practices and resources, 2 |
---|
369 | 369 | | including based upon the options for interventions to 3 |
---|
370 | 370 | | reduce suicide among public safety officers identified 4 |
---|
371 | 371 | | in the annual reports required by section 5 |
---|
372 | 372 | | 317W(e)(1)(F) of the Public Health Service Act, as 6 |
---|
373 | 373 | | added by section 2 of this Act. 7 |
---|
374 | 374 | | (b) C |
---|
375 | 375 | | ONSULTATION.—In developing, assembling, and 8 |
---|
376 | 376 | | updating the best practices and resources under sub-9 |
---|
377 | 377 | | section (a), the Secretary of Health and Human Services 10 |
---|
378 | 378 | | shall consult with, at a minimum, the following: 11 |
---|
379 | 379 | | (1) Public health experts. 12 |
---|
380 | 380 | | (2) Mental health experts with experience in 13 |
---|
381 | 381 | | studying suicide and other profession-related trau-14 |
---|
382 | 382 | | matic stress. 15 |
---|
383 | 383 | | (3) Clinicians with experience in diagnosing and 16 |
---|
384 | 384 | | treating mental health issues. 17 |
---|
385 | 385 | | (4) Relevant national police, fire, and emer-18 |
---|
386 | 386 | | gency medical services organizations. 19 |
---|
387 | 387 | | (c) A |
---|
388 | 388 | | VAILABILITY.—The Secretary of Health and 20 |
---|
389 | 389 | | Human Services shall make the best practices and re-21 |
---|
390 | 390 | | sources under subsection (a) available to Federal, State, 22 |
---|
391 | 391 | | and local fire, law enforcement, and emergency medical 23 |
---|
392 | 392 | | services agencies. 24 |
---|
393 | 393 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:03 Mar 19, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1902.IH H1902 |
---|
394 | 394 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 14 |
---|
395 | 395 | | •HR 1902 IH |
---|
396 | 396 | | (d) FEDERALTRAINING ANDDEVELOPMENT PRO-1 |
---|
397 | 397 | | GRAMS.—The Secretary of Health and Human Services 2 |
---|
398 | 398 | | shall work with Federal departments and agencies, includ-3 |
---|
399 | 399 | | ing the United States Fire Administration, to incorporate 4 |
---|
400 | 400 | | education and training on the best practices and resources 5 |
---|
401 | 401 | | under subsection (a) into Federal training and develop-6 |
---|
402 | 402 | | ment programs for public safety officers. 7 |
---|
403 | 403 | | (e) D |
---|
404 | 404 | | EFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘public 8 |
---|
405 | 405 | | safety officer’’ means— 9 |
---|
406 | 406 | | (1) a public safety officer, as defined in section 10 |
---|
407 | 407 | | 1204 of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 11 |
---|
408 | 408 | | Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10284); or 12 |
---|
409 | 409 | | (2) a public safety telecommunicator, as de-13 |
---|
410 | 410 | | scribed in detailed occupation 43–5031 in the Stand-14 |
---|
411 | 411 | | ard Occupational Classification Manual of the Office 15 |
---|
412 | 412 | | of Management and Budget (2018). 16 |
---|
413 | 413 | | Æ |
---|
414 | 414 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:03 Mar 19, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00014 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1902.IH H1902 |
---|
415 | 415 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS |
---|