CHAPTER
12.5. Peer Support Services for Emergency Ambulance Employees
1799.300.
(a) An emergency ambulance provider shall offer to all emergency ambulance employees, upon the employee’s request, peer support services. The services shall provide peer representatives, reflective of the provider’s workforce both in job positions and personal experiences, who are available to come to the aid of their fellow employees on a broad range of emotional or professional issues. The emergency ambulance provider shall incorporate selection criteria for peer support team members into program policies.(b) For purposes of this chapter, the following definitions apply:
(1) “Confidential
communication” means any information, including, but not limited to, written or oral communication, transmitted between an emergency ambulance employee, a peer support team member, or a crisis hotline or crisis referral service staff member while the peer support team member provides peer support services or the crisis hotline or crisis referral service staff member provides crisis services and in confidence by a means that, as far as the emergency ambulance employee is aware, does not disclose the information to third parties other than those who are present to further the interests of the emergency ambulance employee in delivery of peer support services or those to whom disclosures are reasonably necessary for the transmission of the information or an accomplishment of the purposes for which the peer support team member is providing services.
“Confidential communication” does not include a communication in which an emergency ambulance employee discloses the commission of a crime or a communication that reveals the emergency ambulance employee’s intent to defraud or deceive an investigation into a critical incident.
(2) “Crisis referral services” include all public or private organizations that provide consultation and treatment resources for personal problems, including mental health issues, chemical dependency, domestic violence, gambling, financial problems, and other personal crises. Neither crisis referral services nor crisis hotlines include services provided by an employee association, labor relations representative, or labor relations organization, or any entity owned or operated by an employee association, labor relations representative, or labor relations
organization.
(3) “Critical incident” means an event or situation that involves crisis, disaster, trauma, or emergency.
(4) “Critical incident stress” means the acute or cumulative psychological stress or trauma that emergency ambulance personnel may experience in providing emergency services in response to a critical incident. The stress or trauma is an unusually strong emotional, cognitive, behavioral, or physical reaction that may interfere with normal functioning and could lead to post-traumatic stress injuries, including, but not limited to, one or more of the following:
(A) Physical and emotional illness.
(B) Failure of usual coping
mechanisms.
(C) Loss of interest in the job or normal life activities.
(D) Personality changes.
(E) Loss of ability to function.
(F) Psychological disruption of personal life, including their relationship with a spouse, child, or friend.
(5) “Emergency ambulance employee” means a person who meets both of the following requirements:
(A) Is an emergency medical technician, dispatcher, paramedic, or other licensed or certified ambulance transport person who contributes to the delivery of ambulance services.
(B) Is employed by an emergency ambulance provider.
(6) “Emergency ambulance provider” means an employer that provides ambulance services, but not including the state, or any political subdivision thereof, in its capacity as the direct employer of a person meeting the description contained in subparagraph (A) of paragraph (5).
(7) “Peer support program” means a program administered by the emergency ambulance provider to deliver peer support services to emergency ambulance employees consistent with this chapter.
(8) “Peer support services” means authorized peer support services provided by a peer support team member to emergency ambulance employees and their immediate families affected by a critical incident or
the cumulative effect of witnessing multiple critical incidents. Peer support services assist those affected by a critical incident in coping with critical incident stress and mitigating reactions to critical incident stress, including reducing the risk of post-traumatic stress and other injuries. Peer support services may include any of the following:
(A) Precrisis education.
(B) Critical incident stress defusings.
(C) Critical incident stress debriefings.
(D) On-scene support services.
(E) One-on-one support services.
(F) Consultation.
(G) Referral services.
(H) Confidentiality obligations.
(I) The impact of toxic stress on health and well-being.
(J) Grief support.
(K) Substance abuse awareness and approaches.
(L) Active listening skills.
(M) Psychological first aid.
(9) “Peer support team” means a team or teams composed of emergency ambulance employees, hospital staff, clergy, and educators who have completed a peer
support training course.
(10) “Peer support team member” means an emergency ambulance employee who has completed an approved peer support training course.
1799.301.
(a) A peer support program shall be implemented through a labor-management agreement negotiated separately and apart from any collective bargaining agreement covering affected emergency ambulance employees. The labor-management agreement may cover topics, including any of the following:(1) Program structure and administration.
(2) Selection and training of peer support team members.
(3) Peer support operations.
(4) Program evaluation, monitoring, and continuous improvement.
(5) Funding.
(6) Dispute resolution and program amendments.
(b) Sessions provided by a peer support program shall not count toward the total number of mental health treatments per issue required by Section 884 of the Labor Code.
1799.302.
(a) In any civil, administrative, or arbitration proceeding, an emergency ambulance employee, whether or not a party to an action, has a right to refuse to disclose, and to prevent another from disclosing, a confidential communication between the emergency ambulance employee and a peer support team member made while the peer support team member was providing peer support services, or a confidential communication made to a crisis hotline or crisis referral service.(b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), a confidential communication described in subdivision (a) may be disclosed only under any of the following circumstances:
(1) The peer support team member reasonably must make an appropriate referral of the emergency ambulance employee to, or consult about the emergency ambulance employee with, another member of the peer support team or a peer support team clinician associated with the peer support team.
(2) The peer support team member, crisis hotline, or crisis referral service reasonably believes that disclosure is necessary to prevent death, substantial bodily harm, or commission of a crime.
(3) The peer support team member reasonably believes that disclosure is necessary pursuant to an obligation to report instances of child abuse, as required by Section 11166 of the Penal Code, or other obligation to disclose or report as a mandated reporter.
(4) The disclosure is made pursuant to a court order in a civil proceeding.
(5) In a criminal proceeding.
(6) If otherwise required by law.
(7) The emergency ambulance employee expressly agrees in writing that the confidential communication may be disclosed.
(c) If the communication is disclosed pursuant to paragraph (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), or (6) of subdivision (b), a peer support team member shall notify the emergency ambulance employee of the disclosure in writing.
1799.303.
(a) Except as otherwise provided in subdivision (b), an emergency ambulance employee who provides peer support services as a member of a peer support team and who has received training, and the ambulance agency that employs them, shall not be liable for damages, including personal injury, wrongful death, property damage, or other loss related to an act, error, or omission in performing peer support services, unless the act, error, or omission constitutes gross negligence or intentional misconduct.(b) Subdivision (a) does not apply to an action for medical malpractice.
(c) A person described in
subdivision (a) shall not provide peer support services if, when serving in a peer support role, the individual’s relationship with a peer support recipient could reasonably be expected to impair objectivity, competence, or effectiveness in providing peer support, or otherwise risk exploitation or harm to a peer support recipient.
(d) Whenever possible, a A person described in subdivision (a) providing peer support services should shall not provide those services to a peer support recipient if the
provider and recipient were both involved in the same specific traumatic incident, unless the incident is a large-scale incident.
(e) A person described in subdivision (a) providing peer support services shall not provide those services to a peer support recipient if the provider and recipient are both involved in the same active or ongoing investigation.
1799.304.
To be eligible for the confidentiality protections afforded by this chapter, a peer support team member shall complete a training course or courses on peer support approved by the emergency ambulance provider that may include, but is not limited to, the following:(a) Precrisis education.
(b) Critical incident stress defusings.
(c) Critical incident stress debriefings.
(d) On-scene support services.
(e) One-on-one support services.
(f) Consultation.
(g) Referral services.
(h) Confidentiality obligations.
(i) The impact of toxic stress on health and well-being.
(j) Grief support.
(k) Substance abuse awareness and approaches.
(l) Active listening skills.
(m) Stress management.
(n) Psychological first aid.