In the near future, I plan to re-introduce legislation to extend the Commonwealth’s death benefit currently available to emergency responders to telecommunicators.
 
The Emergency and Law Enforcement Death Benefits Act provides a state benefit of $100,000 (annually adjusted using the Consumer Price Index; which DGS currently estimates will be $161,314.39) to emergency responders for deaths related to the performance of their duties. 
 
A telecommunicator is a person employed as an emergency communications worker or a public safety dispatcher whose primary duties are receiving, processing and transmitting public safety information received through a public safety answering for the initial reporting of police, fire, ems or other emergency situation. As such, this legislation will provide the death benefits established under Act 101 of 1976 to our 911 call-takers and dispatchers.
 
In 2019, this General Assembly passed Act 69, which created the Mental and Stress Management Program for Pennsylvania’s first responders. In that legislation, we included 911 call-takers and dispatchers, realizing that these individuals are often part of the horrors that most of us cannot even begin to imagine. Studies have shown that these first responders experience higher rates of depression, alcohol abuse, sleep disturbances, anxiety disorders and suicidal thoughts.
 
Every day 911 call-takers and dispatchers deal with extremely high stress levels in addition to dealing with what may be a caller’s worse day of their life; often doing so several times a day and for long hours of overtime. These unforeseen frontline heroes assist 911 callers with emergencies including helping someone administer CPR, stopping the bleeding from a gunshot or stab wound, and even delivering babies, and with Next-Generation 911’s implementation now in place they can even see these events live on camera through facetime and livestream functions as if they are physically at the sight of the emergency.
 
Because these emergency responders live with post-traumatic stress and deal with high stressful situations during emergency events, it is only fitting that we recognize this as we did with Act 69 of 2019 and add them to our state’s emergency responder death benefit so their families may receive the help they deserve in their darkest hour.
 
Please consider joining me in sponsoring this important and timely legislation.