Workers' compensation; post-traumatic stress disorder, law-enforcement officers and firefighters.

Workers' compensation; post-traumatic stress disorder;law-enforcement officers and firefighters. Provides that post-traumaticstress disorder incurred by a law-enforcement officer or firefighter iscompensable under the Virginia Workers' Compensation Act if a mental healthprofessional examines a law-enforcement officer or firefighter and diagnosesthe individual as suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder as a result ofthe individual's undergoing a qualifying event, which includes an event occurringin the line of duty on or after July 1, 2020, in which a law-enforcementofficer or firefighter views a deceased minor, witnesses the death of a personor an incident involving the death of a person, witnesses an injury to a personwho subsequently dies, has physical contact with and treats an injured personwho subsequently dies, transports an injured person who subsequently dies, orwitnesses a traumatic physical injury that results in the loss of a vital bodypart or a vital body function that results in permanent disfigurement of thevictim. Other conditions for compensability include (i) if the post-traumaticstress disorder resulted from the law-enforcement officer or firefighter actingin the line of duty and, in the case of a firefighter, such firefightercomplied with certain federal Occupational Safety and Health Act standards;(ii) if the law-enforcement officer's or firefighter's undergoing a qualifyingevent was a substantial factor in causing his post-traumatic stress disorder;(iii) if such qualifying event, and not another event or source of stress, wasthe primary cause of the post-traumatic stress disorder; and (iv) if thepost-traumatic stress disorder did not result from any disciplinary action,work evaluation, job transfer, layoff, demotion, promotion, termination,retirement, or similar action of the officer or firefighter. The measureestablishes procedural requirements on employers that contest a claim for suchbenefits. The measure also establishes requirements for resilience and self-caretechnique training.