Florida House Panel Adds PTSD Benefits for Prison Guards, Not Dispatchers

Florida corrections officers and probation officers moved a step closer to becoming eligible for workers’ compensation benefits for mental stress disorders Monday, but the bill would not extend those benefits to emergency dispatchers.

Despite pleas from several dispatcher advocates at a meeting Monday, an insurance subcommittee of the House Commerce Committee approved House Bill 425 without an amendment that would have included communications personnel.

“The cost is a concern for that, so we’re taking small bites of the apple,” said Rep. Jason Fischer, R-Duval County, the bill’s sponsor.

The Florida Legislature in 2018 provided post-traumatic stress disorder comp benefits for first responders, including about 140,000 law officers, firefighters and emergency medical workers. A legislative staff analysis for HB 425 found that adding 18,500 correctional and probation officers would probably cost local and state governments significantly in higher workers’ compensation costs.

The average cost of PTSD benefits is $43,326 per claim, the analysis said. Since the 2018 bill took effect, 84 PTSD claims have been filed by first responders.

Fischer’s bill also would provide a larger window for responders to file claims – 90 days from a triggering event or diagnosis, whichever comes later. Current law sets the clock running from an event or from the time that the disorder manifests itself.

Several speakers at Monday’s meeting said that the bill is a big step in addressing the mental health needs of more of Florida’s first responders. But dispatchers “are the first of the first responders,” who must handle shocking, emotional calls every day, said Kellie Wilson, a social worker.

The interim director of the Consolidated Dispatch Agency in Tallahassee recounted the story of a dispatcher who answered an emergency call in December from a woman who said her child’s father had a gun. While the dispatcher was directing officers to the scene, she heard the fatal shot over the phone line.

“For our operator, there was no closure on that, no time to decompress,” Odom said. “As soon as she hung up she had to answer another call. To say that dispatch officers are not as valuable as others in this bill is very troubling.”

Fischer noted that the bill faces hearings in three more House committees, which raises the possibility that the measure could be amended there. The Senate Banking and Insurance Committee passed a similar bill, SB 664, last week.

Topics Florida