Revises provisions relating to industrial insurance. (BDR 53-876)

Under existing law, with certain exceptions, an injury or disease sustained by an employee that is caused by stress is compensable under industrial insurance if it arose out of and in the course of his or her employment. Existing law deems an injury or disease caused by stress that afflicts an employee who is a first responder to arise out of and in the course of employment if the employee proves by clear and convincing medical or psychiatric evidence that the employee has a mental injury which is caused by extreme stress for which the primary cause was the employee witnessing an event or series of events during the course of his or her employment that involved: (1) the death, or the aftermath of the death, of a person as a result of a violent event; or (2) an injury, or the aftermath of an injury, that involves grievous bodily harm of a nature that shocks the conscience. Existing law defines the term “first responder” for the purposes of those provisions to include: (1) a salaried or volunteer firefighter; (2) a police officer; (3) an emergency dispatcher or call taker who is employed by a law enforcement agency or public safety agency in this State; or (4) an emergency medical technician or paramedic who is employed by a public safety agency in this State. (NRS 616C.180) This bill adds a civilian employee of a law enforcement agency whose primary duties involve responding to and investigating crime scenes to the list of persons who constitute a first responder for the purposes of provisions governing the circumstances under which a first responder is authorized to receive compensation under industrial insurance for certain stress-related claims. Additionally, this bill specifies that the term “law enforcement agency,” for the purposes of those provisions, means any agency, office, bureau, department, unit or division created by any statute, ordinance or rule which has a duty to enforce the law and employs any person upon whom some or all of the powers of a peace officer are conferred. Finally, this bill also specifies that the term “public safety agency,” for the purposes of those provisions, means: (1) a public fire department, fire protection district or other agency of this State or a political subdivision of this State, the primary functions of which are to control, extinguish and suppress fires; (2) a law enforcement agency; or (3) an emergency medical service.