Bill Would Make PTSD Compensable

North Carolina could become the latest state to provide compensability for mental-mental stress conditions in first responders, if a bill introduced in the state House were to pass this year. House Bill 573, introduced by Rep. Phil Shepard, R-Jacksonville, would make post-traumatic stress disorder an occupational disease. The condition would have to be diagnosed within a year of the traumatic event, by a licensed psychiatrist who is an authorized treating physician. The bill lists several traumatic scenes or events that first responders may witness or handle rescue operations for that wo...