DE PERE, WI (WTAQ) – Help for Wisconsin’s first responders is on the way after Gov. Evers signed the “Public Safety PTSD Coverage Act” at a fire station just blocks from the state Capitol on Tuesday.
“With suicides outpacing on-duty deaths for both police and fire, this is going to make a big difference in terms of letting people know there’s help out there,” said State Senator Andre Jacque of De Pere.
Jacque authored the bi-partisan measure. He’s been focusing on the issue of PTSD in first responders for years.
“I’ve focused on this issue for so long that I’m really emotionally invested in at this point, and it’s just a fantastic feeling to finally get it to the finish line,” Jacque told WTAQ News. “I’ve got a great feeling that this is something that is going to make a huge impact in people’s lives.”
Law enforcement and firefighters are routinely subjected to catastrophic incidents involving severe injury and death at a rate much greater than the general workforce. Jacque points out that they have been unable to receive coverage under Wisconsin’s current workers compensation law.
This legislation also recognizes that while a single event can trigger PTSD, so can repeated everyday exposure to dangerous high stress events. Jacque says that’s a major shift for the state.
“This is something that addresses a 1974 state Supreme Court case that imposed the standard, unfortunately, and really made it impossible to get treatment for public safety first responders,” Jacque explained. “What this does is allows for them to do, rather than being forced to retire or go on duty disability, it allows them to get the treatment that they need to return to the workforce.”
Jacque says the Supreme Court case required ‘a situation of greater dimensions’ than experienced by those within the same profession – essentially punishing them for choosing an occupation where they must routinely rush toward, rather than away from, danger. This bill eliminates the ‘greater dimensions’ requirement for these professions.
Under the bill, responders diagnosed with PTSD by a psychiatrist or psychologist need only show they’re suffering by a preponderance of the evidence. The bill guarantees up to 32 weeks of compensation and allows responders to make only three such claims in his or her lifetime.
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