IIB 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 1646 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 22, 2020 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, 

Labor, and Pensions 

AN ACT 

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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

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

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

4 SEC. 2. DATA SYSTEM TO CAPTURE NATIONAL PUBLIC 

5 SAFETY OFFICER SUICIDE INCIDENCE. 

6 The Public Health Service Act is amended by insert7 ing before section 318 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 247c) the 

8 following: 

9 ‘‘SEC. 317W. DATA SYSTEM TO CAPTURE NATIONAL PUBLIC 

10 SAFETY OFFICER SUICIDE INCIDENCE. 

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

12 with the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and 

13 Prevention and other agencies as the Secretary determines 

14 appropriate, shall— 

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

16 known as the Public Safety Officer Suicide Report17 ing System, for the purposes of— 

18 ‘‘(A) collecting data on the suicide inci19 dence among public safety officers; and 

20 ‘‘(B) facilitating the study of successful 

21 interventions to reduce suicide among public 

22 safety officers; and 

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

24 Violent Death Reporting System, so long as the Sec25 retary determines such integration to be consistent 

26 with the purposes described in paragraph (1). 


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

2 Public Safety Officer Suicide Reporting System, the Sec3 retary shall, at a minimum, collect the following informa4 tion: 

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

6 States among all public safety officers in a given cal7 endar year. 

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

9 a given calendar year, disaggregated by— 

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

11 officer; 

12 ‘‘(B) State; 

13 ‘‘(C) occupation; including both the indi14 vidual’s role in their public safety agency and 

15 their primary occupation in the case of volun16 teer public safety officers; 

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

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

19 or career; and 

20 ‘‘(E) status of the public safety officer as 

21 active or retired. 

22 ‘‘(c) CONSULTATION DURING DEVELOPMENT.—In 

23 developing the Public Safety Officer Suicide Reporting 

24 System, the Secretary shall consult with non-Federal ex25 perts to determine the best means to collect data regardVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:51 Sep 23, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1646.RFS H1646

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1 ing suicide incidence in a safe, sensitive, anonymous, and 

2 effective manner. Such non-Federal experts shall include, 

3 as appropriate, the following: 

4 ‘‘(1) Public health experts with experience in 

5 developing and maintaining suicide registries. 

6 ‘‘(2) Organizations that track suicide among 

7 public safety officers. 

8 ‘‘(3) Mental health experts with experience in 

9 studying suicide and other profession-related trau10 matic stress. 

11 ‘‘(4) Clinicians with experience in diagnosing 

12 and treating mental health issues. 

13 ‘‘(5) Active and retired volunteer, paid-on-call, 

14 and career public safety officers. 

15 ‘‘(6) Relevant national police, and fire and 

16 emergency medical services, organizations. 

17 ‘‘(d) DATA PRIVACY AND SECURITY.—In developing 

18 and maintaining the Public Safety Officer Suicide Report19 ing System, the Secretary shall ensure that all applicable 

20 Federal privacy and security protections are followed to 

21 ensure that— 

22 ‘‘(1) the confidentiality and anonymity of sui23 cide victims and their families are protected, includ24 ing so as to ensure that data cannot be used to deny 

25 benefits; and 


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1 ‘‘(2) data is sufficiently secure to prevent unau2 thorized access. 

3 ‘‘(e) REPORTING.— 

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

5 after the date of enactment of the Helping Emer6 gency Responders Overcome Act, and biannually 

7 thereafter, the Secretary shall submit a report to the 

8 Congress on the suicide incidence among public safe9 ty officers. Each such report shall— 

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

11 suicide incidence, disaggregated by age, gender, 

12 and State of employment; 

13 ‘‘(B) identify characteristics and contrib14 uting circumstances for suicide among public 

15 safety officers; 

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

17 ‘‘(i) occupation; 

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

19 or career; and 

20 ‘‘(iii) status as active or retired; 

21 ‘‘(D) include recommendations for further 

22 study regarding the suicide incidence among 

23 public safety officers; 

24 ‘‘(E) specify in detail, if found, any obsta25 cles in collecting suicide rates for volunteers 


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1 and include recommended improvements to 

2 overcome such obstacles; 

3 ‘‘(F) identify options for interventions to 

4 reduce suicide among public safety officers; and 

5 ‘‘(G) describe procedures to ensure the 

6 confidentiality and anonymity of suicide victims 

7 and their families, as described in subsection 

8 (d)(1). 

9 ‘‘(2) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—Upon the submis10 sion of each report to the Congress under paragraph 

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

12 available on the website of the Centers for Disease 

13 Control and Prevention. 

14 ‘‘(f) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘public 

15 safety officer’ means— 

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

17 1204 of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 

18 Streets Act of 1968; or 

19 ‘‘(2) a public safety telecommunicator as de20 scribed in detailed occupation 43–5031 in the Stand21 ard Occupational Classification Manual of the Office 

22 of Management and Budget (2018). 

23 ‘‘(g) PROHIBITED USE OF INFORMATION.—Notwith24 standing any other provision of law, if an individual is 

25 identified as deceased based on information contained in 


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1 the Public Safety Officer Suicide Reporting System, such 

2 information may not be used to deny or rescind life insur3 ance payments or other benefits to a survivor of the de4 ceased individual.’’. 

5 SEC. 3. PEER-SUPPORT BEHAVIORAL HEALTH AND 

6 WELLNESS PROGRAMS WITHIN FIRE DEPART7 MENTS AND EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICE 

8 AGENCIES. 

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

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

11 by adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘SEC. 320B. PEER-SUPPORT BEHAVIORAL HEALTH AND 

13 WELLNESS PROGRAMS WITHIN FIRE DEPART14 MENTS AND EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICE 

15 AGENCIES. 

16 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall award 

17 grants to eligible entities for the purpose of establishing 

18 or enhancing peer-support behavioral health and wellness 

19 programs within fire departments and emergency medical 

20 services agencies. 

21 ‘‘(b) PROGRAM DESCRIPTION.—A peer-support be22 havioral health and wellness program funded under this 

23 section shall— 


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

2 departments or emergency medical services agencies 

3 to serve as peer counselors; 

4 ‘‘(2) provide training to members of career, vol5 unteer, and combination fire departments or emer6 gency medical service agencies to serve as such peer 

7 counselors; 

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

9 to provide such training; and 

10 ‘‘(4) disseminate such information and mate11 rials as are necessary to conduct the program. 

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

13 ‘‘(1) The term ‘eligible entity’ means a non14 profit organization with expertise and experience 

15 with respect to the health and life safety of members 

16 of fire and emergency medical services agencies. 

17 ‘‘(2) The term ‘member’— 

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

19 services agency, means an employee, regardless 

20 of rank or whether the employee receives com21 pensation (as defined in section 1204(7) of the 

22 Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 

23 1968); and 

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

25 means any employee, regardless of rank or 


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1 whether the employee receives compensation, of 

2 a Federal, State, Tribal, or local fire depart3 ment who is responsible for responding to calls 

4 for emergency service.’’. 

5 (b) TECHNICAL CORRECTION.—Effective as if in6 cluded in the enactment of the Children’s Health Act of 

7 2000 (Public Law 106–310), the amendment instruction 

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

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

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

11 SEC. 4. HEALTH CARE PROVIDER BEHAVIORAL HEALTH 

12 AND WELLNESS PROGRAMS. 

13 Part B of title III of the Public Health Service Act 

14 (42 U.S.C. 243 et seq.), as amended by section 3, is fur15 ther amended by adding at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘SEC. 320C. HEALTH CARE PROVIDER BEHAVIORAL 

17 HEALTH AND WELLNESS PROGRAMS. 

18 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall award 

19 grants to eligible entities for the purpose of establishing 

20 or enhancing behavioral health and wellness programs for 

21 health care providers. 

22 ‘‘(b) PROGRAM DESCRIPTION.—A behavioral health 

23 and wellness program funded under this section shall— 

24 ‘‘(1) provide confidential support services for 

25 health care providers to help handle stressful or 


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1 traumatic patient-related events, including coun2 seling services and wellness seminars; 

3 ‘‘(2) provide training to health care providers to 

4 serve as peer counselors to other health care pro5 viders; 

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

7 to provide such training; and 

8 ‘‘(4) disseminate such information and mate9 rials as are necessary to conduct such training and 

10 provide such peer counseling. 

11 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the term ‘eligible 

12 entity’ means a hospital, including a critical access hos13 pital (as defined in section 1861(mm)(1) of the Social Se14 curity Act) or a disproportionate share hospital (as defined 

15 under section 1923(a)(1)(A) of such Act), a Federally16 qualified health center (as defined in section 

17 1905(1)(2)(B) of such Act), or any other health care facil18 ity.’’. 

19 SEC. 5. DEVELOPMENT OF RESOURCES FOR EDUCATING 

20 MENTAL HEALTH PROFESSIONALS ABOUT 

21 TREATING FIRE FIGHTERS AND EMERGENCY 

22 MEDICAL SERVICES PERSONNEL. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of the United 

24 States Fire Administration, in consultation with the Sec25 retary of Health and Human Services, shall develop and 


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1 make publicly available resources that may be used by the 

2 Federal Government and other entities to educate mental 

3 health professionals about— 

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

5 local career, volunteer, and combination fire depart6 ments and emergency medical services agencies; 

7 (2) the different stressors experienced by fire8 fighters and emergency medical services personnel, 

9 supervisory firefighters and emergency medical serv10 ices personnel, and chief officers of fire departments 

11 and emergency medical services agencies; 

12 (3) challenges encountered by retired fire13 fighters and emergency medical services personnel; 

14 and 

15 (4) evidence-based therapies for mental health 

16 issues common to firefighters and emergency med17 ical services personnel within such departments and 

18 agencies. 

19 (b) CONSULTATION.—In developing resources under 

20 subsection (a), the Administrator of the United States 

21 Fire Administration and the Secretary of Health and 

22 Human Services shall consult with national fire and emer23 gency medical services organizations. 

24 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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1 (1) The term ‘‘firefighter’’ means any employee, 

2 regardless of rank or whether the employee receives 

3 compensation, of a Federal, State, Tribal, or local 

4 fire department who is responsible for responding to 

5 calls for emergency service. 

6 (2) The term ‘‘emergency medical services per7 sonnel’’ means any employee, regardless of rank or 

8 whether the employee receives compensation, as de9 fined in section 1204(7) of the Omnibus Crime Con10 trol and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 

11 10284(7)). 

12 (3) The term ‘‘chief officer’’ means any indi13 vidual who is responsible for the overall operation of 

14 a fire department or an emergency medical services 

15 agency, irrespective of whether such individual also 

16 serves as a firefighter or emergency medical services 

17 personnel. 

18 SEC. 6. BEST PRACTICES AND OTHER RESOURCES FOR AD19 DRESSING POSTTRAUMATIC STRESS DIS20 ORDER IN PUBLIC SAFETY OFFICERS. 

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

22 Health and Human Services shall— 

23 (1) develop and assemble evidence-based best 

24 practices and other resources to identify, prevent, 


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1 and treat posttraumatic stress disorder and co-oc2 curring disorders in public safety officers; and 

3 (2) reassess and update, as the Secretary deter4 mines necessary, such best practices and resources, 

5 including based upon the options for interventions to 

6 reduce suicide among public safety officers identified 

7 in the annual reports required by section 

8 317W(e)(1)(F) of the Public Health Service Act, as 

9 added by section 2 of this Act. 

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

11 updating the best practices and resources under sub12 section (a), the Secretary of Health and Human Services 

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

14 (1) Public health experts. 

15 (2) Mental health experts with experience in 

16 studying suicide and other profession-related trau17 matic stress. 

18 (3) Clinicians with experience in diagnosing and 

19 treating mental health issues. 

20 (4) Relevant national police, fire, and emer21 gency medical services organizations. 

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

23 Human Services shall make the best practices and re24 sources under subsection (a) available to Federal, State, 


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1 and local fire, law enforcement, and emergency medical 

2 services agencies. 

3 (d) FEDERAL TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT PRO4 GRAMS.—The Secretary of Health and Human Services 

5 shall work with Federal departments and agencies, includ6 ing the United States Fire Administration, to incorporate 

7 education and training on the best practices and resources 

8 under subsection (a) into Federal training and develop9 ment programs for public safety officers. 

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

11 safety officer’’ means— 

12 (1) a public safety officer as defined in section 

13 1204 of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 

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

15 (2) a public safety telecommunicator as de16 scribed in detailed occupation 43–5031 in the Stand17 ard Occupational Classification Manual of the Office 

18 of Management and Budget (2018). 

Passed the House of Representatives September 21, 

2020. 

Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, 

Clerk. 


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