Assistance program created for Sandy Hook first responders

An empty gurney is pushed by medics away from Sandy Hook Elementary School, after the mass shooting that claimed the lives of 26 people, including 20 children in Newtown, Conn., Friday, Dec. 14, 2012./ AP Photo

Connecticut lawmakers have approved an assistance program that will provide benefits to first responders who suffered psychological trauma from the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings in Newtown, Conn.

H.B. 6599 was unanimously approved Wednesday by the Connecticut House and Senate, according to the Connecticut General Assembly website. The bill establishes the Sandy Hook Workers Assistance Program for emergency responders, medical professionals, Sandy Hook school employees and other workers who suffered mental or emotional impairment in the wake of the December school shooting.

Coverage applies for trauma that occurred between 8 a.m. Dec. 14 — the morning of the tragic shooting — and 11:59 p.m. Dec. 15, according to the bill. The program would require affected responders to provide a written opinion from a mental health professional showing that they have suffered a disability in relation to the Sandy Hook trauma.

The program would be funded by "gifts, donations and grants" as well as money from Connecticut's Office of Victim Services, the bill reads. The office is part of the Connecticut Judicial Branch.

Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy lauded the bill's passage in a statement Wednesday.

"In the depth of that anguish, we in government have undertaken a critically important debate, one where complete consensus will be difficult if not impossible," the statement reads. "But that should not stop us from doing the good and decent things that honor those who serve our communities, especially those who have done so admirably in our darkest hour. It is moments like this that make me grateful for the opportunity to serve the residents of our state, and I look forward to signing the bill.”