Emergency Ambulance Employee Safety and Preparedness Act.

Existing law, the Emergency Ambulance Employee Safety and Preparedness Act, an initiative measure enacted by the voters by Proposition 11 at the November 6, 2018, statewide general election, requires every emergency ambulance employee to annually receive employer-paid training relating to, among other things, responding to active shooter and mass casualty incidents and preventing violence against emergency ambulance employees and patients. Existing law requires the training to be provided free of charge to an emergency ambulance employee and requires the employee to be compensated at the employee's regular hourly rate of pay while participating in the training. This bill would additionally require every current emergency ambulance employee, on or before July 1, 2020, and every new employee hired on or after January 1, 2020, within 6 months of being hired, to attend a 6-hour training on violence prevention that includes, among other things, understanding types of anger, proven and effective verbal deescalation skills, and hands-on demonstrations, workshops, and role-playing scenarios. The bill would require an emergency ambulance employee, following the completion of the 6-hour violence prevention training, to receive a one-hour refresher course each calendar year thereafter. The bill would require the training to be provided free of charge to an emergency ambulance employee and would require the employee to be compensated at the employee's regular hourly rate of pay while participating in the training. Under existing law, every emergency ambulance employee is entitled to employer-paid mental health services through an employee assistance program (EAP) . Existing law requires the EAP coverage to provide up to 10 mental health treatments per issue, per calendar year. This bill would require an emergency ambulance employee who requests mental health treatment for critical incident stress management, as defined, or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) , to receive in-person treatment from a qualified professional who is trained in the areas of critical incident stress management or PTSD. The act permits amendment by the Legislature by a 45 vote of each house if the amendment is consistent with, and furthers the purposes of, the act.