BOISE — Idaho's first responders are applauding what could be a big change in how they handle their mental health.
The state's current worker's compensation laws state that police, fire and other emergency service workers suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder are only covered if it's accompanied by a physical injury.
On Thursday afternoon, Democratic Rep. Matt Erpelding of Boise announced a potential law that may remedy that.
"A police officer involved in a shooting must throw out his or her back in order to get treatment for depression," Rep. Erpelding said. "A firefighter who pulls a body from a burning building must also sprain their ankle to get treatment for PTSD.
Boise Fire Chief Dennis Doan said Idaho's current law has left some first responders suffering in silence. He added that across the U.S. the effects of PTSD on emergency crews have come with deadly consequences.
"Suicides left more officers and firefighters dead last year than all the line-of-duty deaths combined," Doan said.
"All of us here have had friends over the past couple of years that have committed suicide from the stresses they face in their job," Rob Shoplock of Professional Firefighters of Idaho said.
The first responders KTVB spoke with Thursday said these high rates of suicide are because of the nature of the job.
"Cutting people out of cars, responding to children being stabbed, pulling a child out of a car that is submerged in water, doing CPR on an infant, the thousands of calls we go on each year can take a toll and what can come after the response to a call is not just part of the job," Doan said.
Rep. Erpelding said he's garnered support from his Republican colleagues, but he anticipates some pushback.
"You have a lot of people that would be ultra-fiscal hawks, who don't see past the bottom line," Rep. Erpelding said.
Doan also said money was a major hurdle when he tried to get similar legislation passed in the 1990s.
But both Doan and Erpelding said the stigma around mental health has changed, and they're optimistic the proposal will become law.
"Idaho expects so much from our first responders, which means Idaho must have their backs in return," Rep. Erpelding said.