II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2700 

To require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to improve the 

detection, prevention, and treatment of mental health issues among public 

safety officers, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 10, 2021 

Ms. ROSEN (for herself and Mrs. FISCHER) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of Health and Human Services 

to improve the detection, prevention, and treatment of 

mental health issues among public safety officers, and 

for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Helping Emergency 

5 Responders Overcome Act’’ or the ‘‘HERO Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DATA SYSTEM TO CAPTURE NATIONAL PUBLIC 

2 SAFETY OFFICER SUICIDE INCIDENCE. 

3 The Public Health Service Act is amended by insert4 ing before section 318 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 247c) the 

5 following: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 317V. DATA SYSTEM TO CAPTURE NATIONAL PUBLIC 

7 SAFETY OFFICER SUICIDE INCIDENCE. 

8 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in coordination 

9 with other agencies as the Secretary determines appro10 priate, may— 

11 ‘‘(1) develop and maintain a data system, to be 

12 known as the Public Safety Officer Suicide Report13 ing System, for the purposes of— 

14 ‘‘(A) collecting data on the suicide inci15 dence among public safety officers; and 

16 ‘‘(B) facilitating the study of successful 

17 interventions to reduce suicide among public 

18 safety officers; and 

19 ‘‘(2) integrate such system into the National 

20 Violent Death Reporting System, so long as the Sec21 retary determines such integration to be consistent 

22 with the purposes described in paragraph (1). 

23 ‘‘(b) DATA COLLECTION.—In collecting data for the 

24 Public Safety Officer Suicide Reporting System, the Sec25 retary shall, at a minimum, collect the following informa26 tion: 


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1 ‘‘(1) The total number of suicides in the United 

2 States among all public safety officers in a given cal3 endar year. 

4 ‘‘(2) Suicide rates for public safety officers in 

5 a given calendar year, disaggregated by— 

6 ‘‘(A) age and gender of the public safety 

7 officer; 

8 ‘‘(B) State; 

9 ‘‘(C) occupation; including both the indi10 vidual’s role in their public safety agency and 

11 their primary occupation in the case of volun12 teer public safety officers; 

13 ‘‘(D) where available, the status of the 

14 public safety officer as volunteer, paid-on-call, 

15 or career; and 

16 ‘‘(E) where available, the status of the 

17 public safety officer as active or retired. 

18 ‘‘(c) DATA PRIVACY AND SECURITY.—In developing 

19 and maintaining the Public Safety Officer Suicide Report20 ing System, the Secretary shall ensure that all applicable 

21 Federal privacy and security protections are followed to 

22 ensure that— 

23 ‘‘(1) the confidentiality and anonymity of sui24 cide victims and their families are protected, includVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:31 Aug 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2700.IS S2700

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1 ing so as to ensure that data cannot be used to deny 

2 benefits; and 

3 ‘‘(2) data is sufficiently secure to prevent unau4 thorized access. 

5 ‘‘(d) REPORTING.— 

6 ‘‘(1) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than 2 years 

7 after the date of enactment of the Helping Emer8 gency Responders Overcome Act, and biannually 

9 thereafter, the Secretary shall submit a report to the 

10 Congress on the suicide incidence among public safe11 ty officers. Each such report shall— 

12 ‘‘(A) include the number and rate of such 

13 suicide incidence, disaggregated by age, gender, 

14 and State of employment; 

15 ‘‘(B) identify characteristics and contrib16 uting circumstances for suicide among public 

17 safety officers; 

18 ‘‘(C) disaggregate rates of suicide by— 

19 ‘‘(i) occupation; 

20 ‘‘(ii) status as volunteer, paid-on-call, 

21 or career, where available; and 

22 ‘‘(iii) status as active or retired, where 

23 available; 


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1 ‘‘(D) include recommendations for further 

2 study regarding the suicide incidence among 

3 public safety officers; 

4 ‘‘(E) specify in detail, if found, any obsta5 cles in collecting suicide rates for volunteers 

6 and include recommended improvements to 

7 overcome such obstacles; 

8 ‘‘(F) identify options for interventions to 

9 reduce suicide among public safety officers; and 

10 ‘‘(G) describe procedures to ensure the 

11 confidentiality and anonymity of suicide victims 

12 and their families, as described in subsection 

13 (c)(1). 

14 ‘‘(2) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—Upon the submis15 sion of each report to the Congress under paragraph 

16 (1), the Secretary shall make the full report publicly 

17 available on the website of the Centers for Disease 

18 Control and Prevention. 

19 ‘‘(e) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘public 

20 safety officer’ means— 

21 ‘‘(1) a public safety officer as defined in section 

22 1204 of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 

23 Streets Act of 1968; or 

24 ‘‘(2) a public safety telecommunicator as de25 scribed in detailed occupation 43–5031 in the StandVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:31 Aug 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2700.IS S2700

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1 ard Occupational Classification Manual of the Office 

2 of Management and Budget (2018). 

3 ‘‘(f) PROHIBITED USE OF INFORMATION.—Notwith4 standing any other provision of law, if an individual is 

5 identified as deceased based on information contained in 

6 the Public Safety Officer Suicide Reporting System, such 

7 information may not be used to deny or rescind life insur8 ance payments or other benefits to a survivor of the de9 ceased individual.’’. 

10 SEC. 3. PEER-SUPPORT BEHAVIORAL HEALTH AND 

11 WELLNESS PROGRAMS WITHIN FIRE DEPART12 MENTS AND EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICE 

13 AGENCIES. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part B of title III of the Public 

15 Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 243 et seq.) is amended 

16 by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘SEC. 320C. PEER-SUPPORT BEHAVIORAL HEALTH AND 

18 WELLNESS PROGRAMS WITHIN FIRE DEPART19 MENTS AND EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICE 

20 AGENCIES. 

21 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may award grants 

22 to eligible entities for the purpose of establishing or en23 hancing peer-support behavioral health and wellness pro24 grams within fire departments and emergency medical 

25 services agencies. 


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1 ‘‘(b) PROGRAM DESCRIPTION.—A peer-support be2 havioral health and wellness program funded under this 

3 section shall— 

4 ‘‘(1) use career and volunteer members of fire 

5 departments or emergency medical services agencies 

6 to serve as peer counselors; 

7 ‘‘(2) provide training to members of career, vol8 unteer, and combination fire departments or emer9 gency medical service agencies to serve as such peer 

10 counselors; 

11 ‘‘(3) purchase materials to be used exclusively 

12 to provide such training; or 

13 ‘‘(4) disseminate such information and mate14 rials as are necessary to conduct the program. 

15 ‘‘(c) DEFINITION.—In this section: 

16 ‘‘(1) The term ‘eligible entity’ means a non17 profit organization with expertise and experience 

18 with respect to the health and life safety of members 

19 of fire and emergency medical services agencies. 

20 ‘‘(2) The term ‘member’— 

21 ‘‘(A) with respect to an emergency medical 

22 services agency, means an employee who is a 

23 member of a rescue squad or ambulance crew 

24 (as defined in section 1204 of title I of the Om25 nibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 


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1 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10284)), regardless of rank or 

2 whether the employee receives compensation; 

3 and 

4 ‘‘(B) with respect to a fire department, 

5 means any employee, regardless of rank or 

6 whether the employee receives compensation, of 

7 a Federal, State, Tribal, or local fire depart8 ment who is responsible for responding to calls 

9 for emergency service.’’. 

10 (b) TECHNICAL CORRECTION.—Effective as if in11 cluded in the enactment of the Children’s Health Act of 

12 2000 (Public Law 106–310), the amendment instruction 

13 in section 1603 of such Act is amended by striking ‘‘Part 

14 B of the Public Health Service Act’’ and inserting ‘‘Part 

15 B of title III of the Public Health Service Act’’. 

16 SEC. 4. DEVELOPMENT OF RESOURCES FOR EDUCATING 

17 MENTAL HEALTH PROFESSIONALS ABOUT 

18 TREATING FIRE FIGHTERS AND EMERGENCY 

19 MEDICAL SERVICES PERSONNEL. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator, in consulta21 tion with the Secretary of Health and Human Services, 

22 shall develop and make publicly available resources that 

23 may be used by the Federal Government and other entities 

24 to educate mental health professionals about— 


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1 (1) the culture of Federal, State, Tribal, and 

2 local career, volunteer, and combination fire depart3 ments and emergency medical services agencies; 

4 (2) the different stressors experienced by fire5 fighters and emergency medical services personnel, 

6 supervisory firefighters and emergency medical serv7 ices personnel, and chief officers of fire departments 

8 and emergency medical services agencies; 

9 (3) challenges encountered by retired fire10 fighters and emergency medical services personnel; 

11 and 

12 (4) evidence-based therapies for mental health 

13 issues common to firefighters and emergency med14 ical services personnel within such departments and 

15 agencies. 

16 (b) CONSULTATION.—In developing resources under 

17 subsection (a), the Administrator, in coordination with the 

18 Secretary of Health and Human Services, shall consult 

19 with national fire and emergency medical services organi20 zations. 

21 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

22 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis23 trator’’ means the Administrator of the United 

24 States Fire Administration. 


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1 (2) CHIEF OFFICER.—The term ‘‘chief officer’’ 

2 means any individual who is responsible for the over3 all operation of a fire department or an emergency 

4 medical services agency, irrespective of whether such 

5 individual also serves as a firefighter or emergency 

6 medical services personnel. 

7 (3) EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES PER8 SONNEL.—The term ‘‘emergency medical services 

9 personnel’’ means an employee who is a member of 

10 a rescue squad or ambulance crew (as defined in sec11 tion 1204 of title I of the Omnibus Crime Control 

12 and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10284)), 

13 regardless of rank or whether the employee receives 

14 compensation. 

15 (4) FIREFIGHTER.—The term ‘‘firefighter’’ 

16 means any employee, regardless of rank or whether 

17 the employee receives compensation, of a Federal, 

18 State, Tribal, or local fire department who is respon19 sible for responding to calls for emergency service. 

20 SEC. 5. BEST PRACTICES AND OTHER RESOURCES FOR AD21 DRESSING POSTTRAUMATIC STRESS DIS22 ORDER IN PUBLIC SAFETY OFFICERS. 

23 (a) DEVELOPMENT; UPDATES.—The Secretary of 

24 Health and Human Services shall— 


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1 (1) develop and assemble evidence-based best 

2 practices and other resources to identify, prevent, 

3 and treat posttraumatic stress disorder and co-oc4 curring disorders in public safety officers; and 

5 (2) reassess and update, as the Secretary deter6 mines necessary, such best practices and resources, 

7 including based upon the options for interventions to 

8 reduce suicide among public safety officers identified 

9 in the annual reports required by section 

10 317V(d)(1)(F) of the Public Health Service Act, as 

11 added by section 2 of this Act. 

12 (b) CONSULTATION.—In developing, assembling, and 

13 updating the best practices and resources under sub14 section (a), the Secretary of Health and Human Services 

15 shall consult with, at a minimum, the following: 

16 (1) Public health experts. 

17 (2) Mental health experts with experience in 

18 studying suicide and other profession-related trau19 matic stress. 

20 (3) Clinicians with experience in diagnosing and 

21 treating mental health issues. 

22 (4) Relevant national police, fire, and emer23 gency medical services organizations. 

24 (c) AVAILABILITY.—The Secretary of Health and 

25 Human Services shall make the best practices and reVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:31 Aug 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2700.IS S2700

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1 sources under subsection (a) available to Federal, State, 

2 and local fire, law enforcement, and emergency medical 

3 services agencies. 

4 (d) FEDERAL TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT PRO5 GRAMS.—The Secretary of Health and Human Services 

6 shall work with Federal departments and agencies, includ7 ing the United States Fire Administration, to incorporate 

8 education and training on the best practices and resources 

9 under subsection (a) into Federal training and develop10 ment programs for public safety officers. 

11 (e) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘public 

12 safety officer’’ means— 

13 (1) a public safety officer, as defined in section 

14 1204 of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 

15 Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10284); or 

16 (2) a public safety telecommunicator, as de17 scribed in detailed occupation 43–5031 in the Stand18 ard Occupational Classification Manual of the Office 

19 of Management and Budget (2018). 

Æ 


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