‘‘(c) CONSULTATION DURING DEVELOPMENT.—In de-
veloping the Public Safety Officer Suicide Reporting Sys-
tem, the Secretary shall consult with non-Federal experts 
to determine the best means to collect data regarding suicide 
incidence in a safe, sensitive, anonymous, and effective 
manner. Such non-Federal experts shall include, as appro-
priate, the following: 
‘‘(1) Public health experts with experience in de-
veloping and maintaining suicide registries. 
‘‘(2) Organizations that track suicide among 
public safety officers. 
‘‘(3) Mental health experts with experience in 
studying suicide and other profession-related trau-
matic stress. 
‘‘(4) Clinicians with experience in diagnosing 
and treating mental health issues. 
‘‘(5) Active and retired volunteer, paid-on-call, 
and career public safety officers. 
‘‘(6) Relevant national police, and fire and 
emergency medical services, organizations. 
‘‘(d) DATA PRIVACY AND SECURITY.—In developing 
and maintaining the Public Safety Officer Suicide Report-
ing System, the Secretary shall ensure that all applicable 
Federal privacy and security protections are followed to en-
sure that— 
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‘‘(1) the confidentiality and anonymity of sui-
cide victims and their families are protected, includ-
ing so as to ensure that data cannot be used to deny 
benefits; and 
‘‘(2) data is sufficiently secure to prevent unau-
thorized access. 
‘‘(e) REPORTING.— 
‘‘(1) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than 2 years 
after the date of enactment of the Helping Emergency 
Responders Overcome Act, and biannually thereafter, 
the Secretary shall submit a report to the Congress on 
the suicide incidence among public safety officers. 
Each such report shall— 
‘‘(A) include the number and rate of such 
suicide incidence, disaggregated by age, gender, 
and State of employment; 
‘‘(B) identify characteristics and contrib-
uting circumstances for suicide among public 
safety officers; 
‘‘(C) disaggregate rates of suicide by— 
‘‘(i) occupation; 
‘‘(ii) status as volunteer, paid-on-call, 
or career; and 
‘‘(iii) status as active or retired; 
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‘‘(D) include recommendations for further 
study regarding the suicide incidence among 
public safety officers; 
‘‘(E) specify in detail, if found, any obsta-
cles in collecting suicide rates for volunteers and 
include recommended improvements to overcome 
such obstacles; 
‘‘(F) identify options for interventions to re-
duce suicide among public safety officers; and 
‘‘(G) describe procedures to ensure the con-
fidentiality and anonymity of suicide victims 
and their families, as described in subsection 
(d)(1). 
‘‘(2) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—Upon the submis-
sion of each report to the Congress under paragraph 
(1), the Secretary shall make the full report publicly 
available on the website of the Centers for Disease 
Control and Prevention. 
‘‘(f) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘public 
safety officer’ means— 
‘‘(1) a public safety officer as defined in section 
1204 of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets 
Act of 1968; or 
‘‘(2) a public safety telecommunicator as de-
scribed in detailed occupation 43–5031 in the Stand-
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ard Occupational Classification Manual of the Office 
of Management and Budget (2018). 
‘‘(g) PROHIBITED USE OF INFORMATION.—Notwith-
standing any other provision of law, if an individual is 
identified as deceased based on information contained in 
the Public Safety Officer Suicide Reporting System, such 
information may not be used to deny or rescind life insur-
ance payments or other benefits to a survivor of the deceased 
individual.’’. 
SEC. 
3. 
PEER-SUPPORT 
BEHAVIORAL 
HEALTH 
AND 
WELLNESS PROGRAMS WITHIN FIRE DEPART-
MENTS AND EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICE 
AGENCIES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—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. 320B. PEER-SUPPORT BEHAVIORAL HEALTH AND 
WELLNESS PROGRAMS WITHIN FIRE DEPART-
MENTS AND EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICE 
AGENCIES. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall award grants 
to eligible entities for the purpose of establishing or enhanc-
ing peer-support behavioral health and wellness programs 
within fire departments and emergency medical services 
agencies. 
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‘‘(b) PROGRAM DESCRIPTION.—A peer-support behav-
ioral health and wellness program funded under this section 
shall— 
‘‘(1) use career and volunteer members of fire de-
partments or emergency medical services agencies to 
serve as peer counselors; 
‘‘(2) provide training to members of career, vol-
unteer, and combination fire departments or emer-
gency medical service agencies to serve as such peer 
counselors; 
‘‘(3) purchase materials to be used exclusively to 
provide such training; and 
‘‘(4) disseminate such information and materials 
as are necessary to conduct the program. 
‘‘(c) DEFINITION.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) The term ‘eligible entity’ means a nonprofit 
organization with expertise and experience with re-
spect to the health and life safety of members of fire 
and emergency medical services agencies. 
‘‘(2) The term ‘member’— 
‘‘(A) with respect to an emergency medical 
services agency, means an employee, regardless of 
rank or whether they receive compensation (as 
defined in section 1204(7) of the Omnibus Crime 
Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968); and 
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