Standards Loosened for PA First Responders to Claim Workers’ Compensation for Post-Traumatic Stress Injury
Effective Oct. 29, 2025, an amendment to the Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Act (Act), adopted via Pennsylvania Senate Bill 365 (Bill), will change the standard for first responders, including Emergency Medical Services (EMS) providers, volunteer firefighters and police officers, to establish a valid mental health or post-traumatic stress injury compensation claim. Accordingly, organizations employing qualified first responders should remain mindful of the upcoming change and be prepared to address claims arising from qualifying traumatic events.
The Bill amends the Act to provide that “first responders,” which is defined to include volunteer and employed EMS providers, volunteer and employed firefighters, Pennsylvania State Police officers and peace officers (which includes any “person who by virtue of his office or public employment is vested by law with a duty to maintain public order or to make arrests for offenses”), must demonstrate only that their mental injury resulted from a “qualifying traumatic event” that occurred during “the course and scope of the individual’s employment as a first responder.”
The Bill removes the Act’s previous requirement that a claimant demonstrate that the mental injury occurred as a result of an “abnormal working condition.” In fact, the Bill expressly provides that a “post-traumatic stress injury suffered by a first responder shall not be required to be the result of an abnormal working condition to be … compensable.”
Qualifying traumatic events are incidents or exposures that either:
- Result in serious bodily injury or death to an individual
- Involve a minor who has been injured, killed, abused or exploited
- Involve an immediate threat to the life of the individual pursuing workers’ compensation or another individual
- Involve mass casualties
- Respond to crime scenes for investigations
The Bill also clarifies that post-traumatic stress injuries resulting from “disciplinary action, [a] job or performance evaluation, job transfers or employment termination” are not compensable under the Act.
Moreover, a claim under the Act, as revised, must be filed within three years after the date of diagnosis of a post-traumatic stress injury by a licensed psychologist or psychiatrist; however, the claim cannot be based on an injury that occurred more than five years before the effective date of the Bill.
While the Bill provides certain benefits to first responders that suffer mental injuries or post-traumatic stress injuries in the course of their employment, the Bill requires compensation to be paid out within a specific timeframe. Specifically, while the Bill states that compensation provided to affected first responders “shall be available during the period of the post-traumatic stress injury,” the Bill also provides that such duration of time cannot exceed a period of 104 weeks.
