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State senate passes PTSD bill for first responders

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State senate passes PTSD bill for first responders

The Wisconsin state Senate on Tuesday passed a bill that would provide workers compensation benefits to first responders who suffer a work-related mental injury.

S.B. 511 “provides that if a public safety officer is diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder by a licensed psychiatrist or psychologist and the mental injury that resulted in that diagnosis is not accompanied by a physical injury, that public safety officer can bring a claim for worker's compensation benefits if the conditions of liability are proven by a preponderance of the evidence,” according to a legislative analysis.

The bill requires, however, that the mental injury “is not the result of a good-faith employment action by the person's employer,” the analysis states.

Under the bill, an injured public safety employee is not required to demonstrate a diagnosis based on unusual stress of greater dimensions than the day-to-day emotional strain and tension experienced by similarly situated employees.

The bill also limits liability for treatment for a mental injury that is compensable under the bill's provisions to no more than 32 weeks after the injury is first reported.

The bill was sent to the state House of Representatives for consideration.