I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1646 

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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 8, 2019 

Mr. BERA introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Science, 

Space, and Technology, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 

Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within 

the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

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 of 2019’’ or the ‘‘HERO Act 

6 of 2019’’. 


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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 after section 317T of such Act (42 U.S.C. 247b–22) 

5 the following: 

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

7 SAFETY OFFICER SUICIDE INCIDENCE. 

8 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting primarily 

9 through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control 

10 and Prevention and in coordination with other agencies 

11 as the Secretary determines appropriate, shall— 

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

13 known as the Public Safety Officer Suicide Report14 ing System, for the purposes of— 

15 ‘‘(A) collecting data on the suicide inci16 dence among public safety officers; and 

17 ‘‘(B) facilitating the study of successful 

18 interventions to reduce suicide among public 

19 safety officers; and 

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

21 Violent Death Reporting System, so long as the Sec22 retary determines such integration to be consistent 

23 with the purposes described in paragraph (1). 

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

25 Public Safety Officer Suicide Reporting System, the SecVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:53 Mar 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1646.IH H1646

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1 retary shall, at a minimum, collect the following informa2 tion: 

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

4 States among all public safety officers in a given cal5 endar year. 

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

7 a given calendar year, disaggregated by— 

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

9 officer; 

10 ‘‘(B) State; 

11 ‘‘(C) occupation; including both the indi12 vidual’s role in their public safety agency and 

13 their primary occupation in the case of volun14 teer public safety officers; 

15 ‘‘(D) status of the public safety officer as 

16 volunteer, paid-on-call, or career; and 

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

18 active or retired. 

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

20 developing the Public Safety Officer Suicide Reporting 

21 System, the Secretary shall consult with non-Federal ex22 perts to determine the best means to collect data regard23 ing suicide incidence in a safe, sensitive, anonymous, and 

24 effective manner. Such non-Federal experts shall include 

25 the following: 


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

2 developing and maintaining suicide registries. 

3 ‘‘(2) Organizations that track suicide among 

4 public safety officers. 

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

6 studying suicide and other profession-related trau7 matic stress. 

8 ‘‘(4) Clinicians with experience in diagnosing 

9 and treating mental health issues. 

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

11 and career public safety officers. 

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

13 emergency medical services, organizations. 

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

15 and maintaining the Public Safety Officer Suicide Report16 ing System, the Secretary shall ensure that all applicable 

17 Federal and State privacy and security protections are fol18 lowed to ensure that— 

19 ‘‘(1) the confidentiality and anonymity of sui20 cide victims and their families are protected, includ21 ing so as to ensure that data cannot be used to deny 

22 benefits; and 

23 ‘‘(2) data is sufficiently secure to prevent unau24 thorized access. 

25 ‘‘(e) REPORTING.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than one 

2 year after the date of enactment of the Helping 

3 Emergency Responders Overcome Act of 2019, and 

4 annually thereafter, the Secretary shall submit a re5 port to the Congress on the suicide incidence among 

6 public safety officers. Each such report shall— 

7 ‘‘(A) include such suicide incidence disag8 gregated by age, gender, and State of employ9 ment; 

10 ‘‘(B) identify risk factors for suicide 

11 among public safety officers; 

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

13 ‘‘(i) occupation; 

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

15 or career; and 

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

17 ‘‘(D) include recommendations for further 

18 study regarding the suicide incidence among 

19 public safety officers; 

20 ‘‘(E) specify in detail, if found, any obsta21 cles in collecting suicide rates for volunteers 

22 and include recommended improvements to 

23 overcome such obstacles; 

24 ‘‘(F) identify options for interventions to 

25 reduce suicide among public safety officers; and 


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1 ‘‘(G) ensure the confidentiality and ano2 nymity of suicide victims and their families, as 

3 described in subsection (d)(1). 

4 ‘‘(2) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—Upon the submis5 sion of each report to the Congress under paragraph 

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

7 available on the website of the Centers for Disease 

8 Control and Prevention. 

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

10 safety officer’ means— 

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

12 1204 of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 

13 Streets Act of 1968; or 

14 ‘‘(2) a public safety telecommunicator as de15 scribed in detailed occupation 43–5031 in the Stand16 ard Occupational Classification Manual of the Office 

17 of Management and Budget (2018). 

18 ‘‘(g) PROHIBITED USE OF INFORMATION.—Notwith19 standing any other provision of law, if an individual is 

20 identified as deceased based on information contained in 

21 the Public Safety Officer Suicide Reporting System, such 

22 information may not be used to deny or rescind life insur23 ance payments or other benefits to a survivor of the de24 ceased individual.’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. PEER-SUPPORT BEHAVIORAL HEALTH AND 

2 WELLNESS PROGRAMS WITHIN FIRE DEPART3 MENTS AND EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICE 

4 AGENCIES. 

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

6 (42 U.S.C. 243 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 

7 the following: 

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

9 WELLNESS PROGRAMS WITHIN FIRE DEPART10 MENTS AND EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICE 

11 AGENCIES. 

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

13 grants to eligible entities for the purpose of establishing 

14 or enhancing peer-support behavioral health and wellness 

15 programs within fire departments and emergency medical 

16 services agencies. 

17 ‘‘(b) PROGRAM DESCRIPTION.—A peer-support be18 havioral health and wellness program funded under this 

19 section shall— 

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

21 departments or emergency medical services agencies 

22 to serve as peer counselors; 

23 ‘‘(2) provide training to members of career, vol24 unteer, and combination fire departments or emer25 gency medical service agencies to serve as such peer 

26 counselors; 


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

2 to provide such training; and 

3 ‘‘(4) disseminate such information and mate4 rials as are necessary to conduct the program. 

5 ‘‘(c) DEFINITION.—In this section: 

6 ‘‘(1) The term ‘eligible entity’ means a non7 profit organization with expertise and experience 

8 with respect to the health and life safety of members 

9 of fire and emergency medical services agencies. 

10 ‘‘(2) The term ‘member’— 

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

12 services agency, means an employee, regardless 

13 of rank or whether they receive compensation 

14 (as defined in section 1204(7) of the Omnibus 

15 Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 

16 (34 U.S.C. 10284(7)); and 

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

18 means a firefighter (as defined in section 

19 1204(4) of the Omnibus Crime Control and 

20 Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 

21 10284(4)).’’. 


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1 SEC. 4. DEVELOPMENT OF RESOURCES FOR EDUCATING 

2 MENTAL HEALTH PROFESSIONALS ABOUT 

3 TREATING FIRE FIGHTERS AND EMERGENCY 

4 MEDICAL SERVICES PERSONNEL. 

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

6 States Fire Administration, in coordination with the Sec7 retary of Health and Human Services, shall develop and 

8 make publicly available resources that may be used by the 

9 Federal Government and other entities to educate mental 

10 health professionals about— 

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

12 local career, volunteer, and combination fire depart13 ments and emergency medical services agencies; 

14 (2) the different stressors experienced by fire15 fighters and emergency medical services personnel, 

16 supervisory firefighters and emergency medical serv17 ices personnel, and chief officers of fire departments 

18 and emergency medical services agencies; 

19 (3) challenges encountered by retired fire20 fighters and emergency medical services personnel; 

21 and 

22 (4) evidence-based therapies for mental health 

23 issues common to firefighters and emergency med24 ical services personnel within such departments and 

25 agencies. 


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1 (b) CONSULTATION.—In developing resources under 

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

3 Fire Administration and the Secretary of Health and 

4 Human Services shall consult with national fire and emer5 gency medical services organizations. 

6 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

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

8 of a Federal, State, Tribal, or local fire department 

9 who is responsible for responding to calls for emer10 gency service. 

11 (2) The term ‘‘emergency medical services per12 sonnel’’ means any employee, regardless of rank or 

13 whether they receive compensation, as defined in 

14 section 1204(7) of the Omnibus Crime Control and 

15 Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10284(7)). 

16 (3) The term ‘‘chief officer’’ means any indi17 vidual who is responsible for the overall operation of 

18 a fire department or an emergency medical services 

19 agency, irrespective of whether such individual also 

20 serves as a firefighter or emergency medical services 

21 personnel. 


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1 SEC. 5. BEST PRACTICES AND OTHER RESOURCES FOR AD2 DRESSING POSTTRAUMATIC STRESS DIS3 ORDER IN PUBLIC SAFETY OFFICERS. 

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

5 Health and Human Services shall— 

6 (1) develop and assemble evidence-based best 

7 practices and other resources to identify, prevent, 

8 and treat posttraumatic stress disorder and co-oc9 curring disorders in public safety officers; and 

10 (2) reassess and update, as the Secretary deter11 mines necessary, such best practices and resources, 

12 including based upon the options for interventions to 

13 reduce suicide among public safety officers identified 

14 in the annual reports required by section 

15 317U(e)(1)(F) of the Public Health Service Act, as 

16 added by section 2 of this Act. 

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

18 updating the best practices and resources under sub19 section (a), the Secretary of Health and Human Services 

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

21 (1) Public health experts. 

22 (2) Mental health experts with experience in 

23 studying suicide and other profession-related trau24 matic stress. 

25 (3) Clinicians with experience in diagnosing and 

26 treating mental health issues. 


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1 (4) Relevant national police, fire, and emer2 gency medical services organizations. 

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

4 Human Services shall make the best practices and re5 sources under subsection (a) available to Federal, State, 

6 and local fire, law enforcement, and emergency medical 

7 services agencies. 

8 (d) FEDERAL TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT PRO9 GRAMS.—The Secretary of Health and Human Services 

10 shall work with Federal departments and agencies, includ11 ing the United States Fire Administration, to incorporate 

12 education and training on the best practices and resources 

13 under subsection (a) into Federal training and develop14 ment programs for public safety officers. 

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

16 safety officer’’ means— 

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

18 1204 of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 

19 Streets Act of 1968; or 

20 (2) a public safety telecommunicator as de21 scribed in detailed occupation 43–5031 in the Stand22 ard Occupational Classification Manual of the Office 

23 of Management and Budget (2018). 

Æ 


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