Proposed Pennsylvania law would help first responders get post-traumatic stress care

GREENSBURG, Pa. — First responders see it all: The good, the bad and the tragic.

“Like they always say, if you could only see what my eyes have seen,” said Chief Tom Bell of the Greensburg Fire Department.

Bell said it doesn’t even have to be what one might consider a “bad call.”

“It doesn’t have to be a fire or an emergency situation. Just when you go, you find some people and just the way they live, some of these kids and stuff, it’s very sad, and it’s something you take home with you every time,” Bell said.

“The strangest correlation is your brain almost being like a waffle, and each time you go on one of those calls, it fills one of those grooves, and eventually, all of those grooves get filled,” added Captain Tom Kusinsky of the Murrysville Police Department.

Lawmakers in Harrisburg are now working to help first responders get care for the post-traumatic stress caused by responding to these calls.

“An average person sees three traumatic events in their lifetime. A first responder can see up to nine in one year,” said State Rep. Jennifer O’Mara (D).

O’Mara sponsored a bill that overwhelmingly passed 154-46 in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives that would allow first responders to apply for workers comp after suffering and being diagnosed with PTSD from a call within three years.

“If you have PTSD, you’re more likely to attempt suicide,” O’Mara said. “There’s a lot of reason for us to think that this is going to be a really good thing, and it’s going to help, I truly believe, save lives.”

The bill now has to be passed out of the State Senate before heading to Gov. Josh Shapiro’s desk. O’Mara said Shapiro has indicated he will sign the bill. A similar bill is being sponsored in the State Senate by Sen. Camera Bartolotta (R).

O’Mara is hopeful the bill will pass, and so is Chief Bell.

“This is something we definitely need,” Bell said. “I hope yes, it definitely passes, I hope so.”

To read the bill that passed in the Pennsylvania House, click here.

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