The state’s largest police union wants the Bureau of Workers Compensation to cover more claims for post-traumatic stress disorder in first responders.
Right now, the Bureau will cover PTSD if a first responder has an injury that causes it. But Mike Weinman with the Fraternal Order of Police of Ohio says that’s not necessarily how PTSD works.
“It’s an accumulation of traumatic events, and then there’s a trigger. So seeing my partner getting shot and killed would be a trigger to the 20 years of things I’ve seen over the course of a career.”
As he’s done for the last few years, Weinman is asking lawmakers to change the rules to allow first responders to get workers comp benefits for PTSD even if they don’t have physical injuries. Weinman says officers are self-medicating and even committing suicide and need help.
