Local State Representative Dan Swanson sponsoring legislation classifying “emergency medical dispatchers” as “first responders.” According to Swanson the initiative recognizes that dispatchers respond to the same traumas as first responders and suffer from the same stresses and are subject to the same mental health challenges as other responders.
The bill will classify “emergency medical responders” as “first responders” including in respect to pay and benefits. Senate Bill 3127 passed unanimously in the Senate and in a House committee last week. It now heads on to the full House for consideration.