HARTFORD- After a nearly five-hour debate Wednesday night with legislators detailing harrowing stories of first responders dealing with horrific events, the state Senate abruptly tabled a bill that would allow police and firefighters to receive workers compensation while seeking treatment for Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome.
The bill would have allowed police, firefighters and parole officers to seek help in dealing with specific tragic events by allowing them to receive up to 52 weeks of workers compensation benefits.
Senators spent hours during the debate recalling their own tragic events that led them to seek help or express support for the legislation. Sen. Kevin Witkos, R-Canton, a former police officer, can still recall the clothing a mother was wearing as she was calling for help for her son who had shot himself in a suicide attempt, he said.
"He was still alive and I called in and said, get me Life Star, get me everything," Witkos said.
When a second officer arrived with oxygen, they turned the boy over to discover that he had shot his own face off, said Witkos, who had to pause repeatedly to tell the story. "Some things stay with you, but you can manage it," Witkos said. "Look at me, it was 28 years ago, but it was like yesterday."
Sen. Dan Champagne, R-Vernon, a former officer, confided to his fellow senators that he had to seek help after a particularly grueling period when he responded to a 15-year-old struck by a car, a child run over by a parent and a baby who died while sleeping in bed after a parent rolled on the infant. "I started not sleeping at night," Champagne said. "I was worried what would happen if I came forward."
He sought help 18 months after the incident from a therapist who had already helped...
from News https://www.ctpost.com/local/article/After-long-debate-workers-comp-for-13906595.php
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