PROTECT 911 Act

Subjects: Health


<html><body><pre>[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2763 Introduced in House (IH)]

&lt;DOC&gt;






118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2763

 To require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to improve the 
  detection, prevention, and treatment of mental health issues among 
                    public safety telecommunicators.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 20, 2023

  Ms. Kelly of Illinois (for herself, Mrs. Torres of California, Mr. 
Fitzpatrick, Ms. Norton, Ms. Blunt Rochester, Ms. Titus, Mr. Kim of New 
 Jersey, Ms. Scholten, Ms. Budzinski, and Mr. Vasquez) introduced the 
   following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and 
                                Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 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 telecommunicators.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Providing Resources and Occupational 
Training for Emotional Crisis and Trauma in 911 Act'' or the ``PROTECT 
911 Act''.

SEC. 2. BEST PRACTICES AND OTHER RESOURCES FOR ADDRESSING MENTAL HEALTH 
              IN PUBLIC SAFETY TELECOMMUNICATORS.

    (a) Best Practices.--The Secretary shall--
            (1) develop and make publicly available evidence-based best 
        practices to identify, prevent, and treat posttraumatic stress 
        disorder and co-occurring disorders in public safety 
        telecommunicators; and
            (2) periodically reassess and update, as the Secretary 
        determines necessary, such best practices.
    (b) Development of Resources for Educating Mental Health 
Professionals About Treating Public Safety Telecommunicators.--The 
Secretary shall develop and make publicly available resources that may 
be used by the Federal Government and other entities to educate mental 
health professionals about--
            (1) the culture of emergency communications centers;
            (2) the different stressors experienced by public safety 
        telecommunicators;
            (3) challenges encountered by retired public safety 
        telecommunicators; and
            (4) evidence-based therapies for mental health issues 
        common to public safety telecommunicators.
    (c) Consultation.--In developing best practices under subsection 
(a) and resources under subsection (b), the Secretary shall consult 
with--
            (1) public health experts;
            (2) mental health experts with experience studying suicide, 
        posttraumatic stress disorder, and other illnesses associated 
        with job-related stress;
            (3) clinicians with experience in diagnosing and treating 
        mental health issues; and
            (4) relevant national nonprofit associations of public 
        safety telecommunicators.
    (d) Definitions.--
            (1) Emergency communications center.--The term ``emergency 
        communications center'' means a facility that is designated to 
        receive a 9-1-1 request for emergency assistance and perform 
        one or more of the following functions:
                    (A) Process and analyze 9-1-1 requests for 
                emergency assistance and other gathered information.
                    (B) Dispatch appropriate emergency response 
                providers.
                    (C) Transfer or exchange 9-1-1 requests for 
                emergency assistance and other gathered information 
                with other emergency communications centers and 
                emergency response providers.
                    (D) Analyze any communications received from 
                emergency response providers.
                    (E) Support incident command functions.
            (2) Public safety telecommunicator.--The term ``public 
        safety telecommunicator'' means a public safety 
        telecommunicator as designated in detailed occupation 43-5031 
        in the Standard Occupational Classification Manual of the 
        Office of Management and Budget (2018), or any successor 
        designation.

SEC. 3. GRANTS FOR BEHAVIORAL HEALTH AND WELLNESS PROGRAMS WITHIN 
              EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS CENTERS.

    Part B of title III of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 243 
et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 320C. GRANTS FOR BEHAVIORAL HEALTH AND WELLNESS PROGRAMS WITHIN 
              EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS CENTERS.

    ``(a) In General.--The Secretary shall award grants to State, 
local, and regional emergency communications centers and other eligible 
entities for the purpose of establishing or enhancing behavioral health 
and wellness programs.
    ``(b) Program Description.--A behavioral health and wellness 
program funded under this section shall--
            ``(1) establish evidence-based behavioral health and 
        wellness programs for emergency communications centers to 
        support public safety telecommunicators, including programs 
        dedicated to raising awareness of, preventing, and mitigating 
        job-related mental health issues;
            ``(2) establish or enhance peer-support behavioral health 
        and wellness programs;
            ``(3) acquire materials or instructors to provide such 
        training; and
            ``(4) disseminate such information and materials as are 
        necessary to carry out the program.
    ``(c) Definitions.--
            ``(1) Emergency communications center.--The term `emergency 
        communications center' means a facility that is designated to 
        receive a 9-1-1 request for emergency assistance and perform 
        one or more of the following functions:
                    ``(A) Process and analyze 9-1-1 requests for 
                emergency assistance and other gathered information.
                    ``(B) Dispatch appropriate emergency response 
                providers.
                    ``(C) Transfer or exchange 9-1-1 requests for 
                emergency assistance and other gathered information 
                with other emergency communications centers and 
                emergency response providers.
                    ``(D) Analyze any communications received from 
                emergency response providers.
                    ``(E) Support incident command functions.
            ``(2) Other eligible entity.--The term `other eligible 
        entity' means a nonprofit organization with expertise and 
        experience with respect to the health and wellness of public 
        safety telecommunicators, including State, local, and regional 
        9-1-1 authorities and State, regional, and national public 
        safety communications associations.
            ``(3) Peer-support behavioral health and wellness 
        program.--The term `peer-support behavioral health and wellness 
        program' means programs that use public safety 
        telecommunicators to serve as peer counselors or provide 
        training to public safety telecommunicators to serve as such 
        peer counselors.
            ``(4) Public safety telecommunicator.--The term `public 
        safety telecommunicator' means a public safety telecommunicator 
        as designated in detailed occupation 43-5031 in the Standard 
        Occupational Classification Manual of the Office of Management 
        and Budget (2018), or any successor designation.''.
                                 &lt;all&gt;
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