CA AB 1843

Title: Emergency ambulance employees.
Author: Freddie Rodriguez

Summary
AB 1843, as amended, Rodriguez. Emergency ambulance employees. Under the Emergency Ambulance Employee Safety and Preparedness Act, an initiative measure enacted by the voters as Proposition 11 at the November 6, 2018, statewide general election, every emergency ambulance employee is entitled to employer-paid mental health services through an employee assistance program (EAP), and requires the EAP coverage to provide up to 10 mental health treatments per issue per calendar year. The act defines “issue” for purposes of those provisions to mean mental health conditions such as, among other things, stress, depression, or substance abuse.This bill would instead require an EAP to provide up to 20 mental health treatments per issue per calendar year, and would include post-traumatic stress disorder in the definition of “issue” for purposes of those provisions. The bill would also require an EAP to schedule an appointment with a mental health treatment provider within 48 hours, upon request of an emergency ambulance employee.This bill would require an emergency ambulance provider to offer to all emergency ambulance employees, upon the employee’s request, peer-to-peer services to provide peer representatives who are available to come to the aid of their fellow employees on a broad range of emotional or professional issues. The bill would require a peer support program to be implemented through a labor-management agreement negotiated separately from a collective bargaining agreement covering affected employees. This bill would specify conditions under which prescribed confidential communications between an emergency ambulance employee and a peer support team member may be disclosed. The bill would specify that an emergency ambulance employee who provides peer support services as a member of a peer support team, and the ambulance agency that employs them, shall not be liable for damages unless an act, error, or omission in performing peer support services constitutes gross negligence or intentional misconduct, except for an action for medical malpractice.Existing law authorizes the act to be amended by a statute enacted by the Legislature with a 4/5 vote that furthers the purposes of the act.This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.

Status
Read second time. Ordered to third reading.

Bill Documents
CA AB 1843 - 03/06/24 - Amended Assembly
03/06/24 - CA AB 1843 (03/06/24 - Amended Assembly)