A bill is headed to Florida Governor Rick Scott’s desk that will allow first responders suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder to recover lost wages. Under current law they can receive medical benefits under workers’ compensation, but the bill that the governor is expected to sign will expand their coverage.

SB 376 will apply to workers who file claims starting on October 1 of 2018, or who experienced a traumatic event in the previous year. Pulse nightclub responders may not be eligible, but those who responded to the high school shooting in Parkland may. The bill will also require pre-employment screening of first responders for PTSD, and requires training on mental health awareness, prevention and treatment.

There was legislation that was introduced after the Pulse nightclub shooting, but it has taken a long time to get anything passed. Florida Chief Financial Officer and state fire marshal Jimmy Patronis says that PTSD is a “hidden killer”. First responders have a suicide rate that is much greater than the public average. Orange County Fire Rescue Chief Otto Drozd said that oftentimes, first responders do not want to be open about their mental health battles because they wouldn’t be paid if they were taken off the job.

Stevie LaDue was a Tampa firefighter for 30 years. He died in September of 2017 of suicide. He had applied for workers’ comp because of PTSD but was denied, and he had to go back to work and pay for the time he missed. Firefighter and paramedic Nate Vandegrift responded to a scene where a pedestrian was struck by a car. That pedestrian was his little brother, who later died of his injuries. Vandegrift was diagnosed with PTSD and took sick time and vacation time but when that ran out he had to go back to work or quit his job. He says he understands that his claim status likely will not change because of the date of the incident, but he says that by advocating for such a bill others who suffer in the future will be helped.

“If anything happens in the future, something is in place now so nobody will have to go through what I went through,” Vandegrift said. “You know, to be able to get out of bed in the morning.”

From The Orlando Sentinel and NPR