The Honorable Gavin Newsom

Governor, State of California

1021 O Street, suite 9000

Sacramento, CA 95814

Re: SB 284 (Stern) Workers’ compensation – SIGNATURE REQUEST

Dear Governor Newsom:

On behalf of the myself and other 9-1-1 professionals in California, I request your signature on SB 284 (Stern), an important measure which provides easier access to PTSI care for first responders including those who facilitate California’s robust network of 9-1-1 response.

Dispatchers are career professionals answer over 27 million 9-1-1 calls annually. We are dedicated to making 9-1-1 and public safety communications work better. We measure our success in the lives that are saved by the 9-1-1 system each and every day. Collectively we advocate for an improved emergency telephone number network through research, planning, training and education and strives toward citizens having immediate access to emergency public safety services so that safety of human life, protection of property and civic welfare are benefited to the utmost degree.

Public safety dispatchers are highly trained individuals and routinely communicate with people in great distress, including during active shooter situations. Dispatchers can coach callers through first aid, collect information to provide situational awareness for responding officers, and negotiate in hostile situations. 9-1-1 dispatchers never know what type of call they are answering. It could be a suicidal teenager, a barking dog, a robbery, a parking complaint, or a case of identity theft. After they complete that call, they must answer the next call without time to decompress, often going call to call for hours on end.

Over many years, this career takes a toll on us and on the lives of our families and loved ones. It is very common for family members or spouses to remark on who we were before this job and who we are today. Some of the calls we have taken still haunt us; weeks, years and even decades later.

This trauma and stress can sometimes lead to physical and emotional illness including failure of usual coping mechanisms, loss of interest in the job or normal life activities, personality changes, loss of ability to function, and physiological disruption in one’s personal life. Often, these issues are left unresolved because there is no place for a dispatcher to go to seek help without fear of losing his/her job or letting down members of their team.

By adding these mental health issues to the term “injury” under workers’ compensation law, California will ensure its front line first responders are being treated for these critical incident stresses related to their job duties.

For these reasons, I ask you to sign SB 284 (Stern) for the benefit of 9-1-1 professionals like myself and those I work with every day.

Sincerely,