A 911 sticker on a Montgomery County Police car in Maryland. Maryland is among the states that have passed modern laws aimed at supporting the mental health of first responders. (Photo: Amanda Watford/Stateline)
This year, more states have gone beyond established counseling and medications to assist first responders deal with post-traumatic stress.
Firefighters, police officers and paramedics routinely witness fatal accidents, violent crimes and other traumatic events that can leave lasting psychological scars.
“When you work in the fire service or any first responder industry, especially the military, a lot of things accumulate over time and you see so many things that the crazy stuff starts to at least seem normal,” said Jason Cerrano, a retired firefighter and paramedic with more than 20 years of experience in Missouri. Cerrano is currently the director of commercial research and development at IDEX Fire & Safety.
Earlier this month in Ohio, Republican Gov. Mike DeWine signed legislation that would create a Traumatic Injury Commission to review applications from eligible first responders for assist with medical costs.
Maryland took a different approach this year, passing a law that protects firefighters, emergency medical technicians, paramedics and other first responders from employment discrimination based on their legal off-duty operate of medical marijuana.
The modern law, which goes into effect in October, applies to registered medical marijuana patients who test positive for cannabis metabolites but are not found to be impaired while on duty.
Several other states are investigating modern therapies.
Connecticut’s modern law expands a pilot program at Yale University examining psilocybin-assisted therapy, allowing any state resident 18 years of age or older to participate, provided they meet clinical eligibility criteria established by Yale University’s Institutional Review Board. The pilot program was previously narrow to veterans, retired first responders and frontline healthcare workers.
Missouri legislators advanced AND Bill allowing veterans and first responders in approved research studies to receive the psychedelics psilocybin and ibogaine, under medical supervision, for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other mental health conditions. In May, the Legislature adjourned before lawmakers could send the bill to the governor.
Stateline reporter Amanda Watford can be reached at: awatford@stateline.org.
- 11:08This story has been updated with additional details about retired firefighter Jason Cerrano.
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