As many of you are aware, Meuser, Yackley & Rowland, P.A. is responsible for representing literally hundreds of individuals who have suffered from the effects of PTSD, more commonly known as post-traumatic stress disorder. Quite frequently, those individuals will come from professions such as police and fire, but more and more we are seeing those who are coming from the emergency medical service areas. Those individuals, such as paramedics, emergency medical technicians, dispatchers, and others who are directly involved with traumatic events but may not necessarily come to mind as those who can or would be exposed to trauma leading to PTSD. Today I want to talk about those individuals, because those individuals and their injuries and conditions are just as serious and important as those of the other first responders such as police and fire.

Working as a paramedic, EMT or EMS poses inherent dangers, especially during the Coronavirus pandemic. As part of your duties, you are required to go into homes that are not your own and administer hands-on medical assistance to individuals in need.

Great news for Minnesota’s first responders! A bill has been passed by both the House and Senate, and is expected to be signed by the Governor, that adds additional workers’ compensation rights for our state’s first responders who are suffering from mental illness.

House Bill HF 3873 and the companion Bill in the Senate SF3420 have both passed with overwhelming support, and the bill is expected to be signed by Governor Dayton. The portion of the bill as it relates to first responders and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) will take effect January 1, 2019.

This bill has been in the works for a few years now, but finally had enough support to pass. While it won’t necessarily have a significant impact on people who are currently in the Minnesota workers’ compensation system, we expect that it will make a major difference to those who find themselves struggling with work-related PTSD in the future.