Bill would allow first responders to file workers' compensation claims for PTSD

When Marlborough Fire Chief John Manning thinks about trauma, his mind invariably gravitates to July 3, 2007. Suddenly, he is back at Corbett Creek Farm, responding to what he considers the worst call of his career.

A 17-year-old boy was fatally crushed by a falling wall that day, and Manning was one of the first to arrive on the scene. He can still hear the pleas of a woman who was there, begging him to help.

Other times, his mind lands on the painful phone conversation he had that day with the boy’s mom. Travis J. DeSimone was from out of town. His mom had questions.

“Do you know what happened?” he remembers asking her.

She didn’t — Manning had to tell her.

“It’s certainly one of the (incidents) that would stick in my head forever,” he said.

Read more: http://www.sentinelsource.com/news/local/bill-would-allow-first-responders-to-file-workers-compensation-claims/article_c72be70d-02a1-565c-ad45-f28b45063e05.html

The bill being introduced is Senate Bill 553.