34 U.S. Code § 10653 - Creation of a TBI and PTSD training for first responders

(a) In general

Not later than one year after August 16, 2022, the Attorney General, acting through the Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance, in consultation with the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use, shall solicit best practices regarding techniques to interact with persons who have a traumatic brain injury, an acquired brain injury, or post-traumatic stress disorder from first responder, brain injury, veteran, and mental health organizations, health care and mental health providers, hospital emergency departments, and other relevant stakeholders, and shall develop crisis intervention training tools for use by first responders (as such term is defined in section 10705 of this title) that provide—

(1) information on the conditions and symptoms of a traumatic brain injury, an acquired brain injury, and post-traumatic stress disorder;

(2) techniques to interact with persons who have a traumatic brain injury, an acquired brain injury, or post-traumatic stress disorder; and

(3) information on how to recognize persons who have a traumatic brain injury, an acquired brain injury, or post-traumatic stress disorder.

(b) Use of training tools at Law Enforcement Mental Health Learning Sites

The Attorney General shall ensure that not less than one Law Enforcement Mental Health Learning Site designated by the Director of the Bureau of Justice Assistance uses the training tools developed under subsection (a).

(c) Police Mental Health Collaboration Toolkit

The Attorney General shall make the training tools developed under subsection (a) available as part of the Police-Mental Health Collaboration Toolkit provided by the Bureau of Justice Assistance.

(Pub. L. 90–351, title I, § 2993, as added Pub. L. 117–170, § 3(2), Aug. 16, 2022, 136 Stat. 2092.)

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Findings

Pub. L. 117–170, § 2, Aug. 16, 2022, 136 Stat. 2091, provided that:

“Congress finds the following:

“(1) According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there were approximately 2.9 million traumatic brain injury-related emergency department visits, hospitalizations, and deaths in the United States in 2014.

“(2) Effects of traumatic brain injury (TBI) can be short-term or long-term, and include impaired thinking or memory, movement, vision or hearing, or emotional functioning, such as personality changes or depression.

“(3) Currently, between 3.2 million and 5.3 million persons are living with a TBI-related disability in the United States.

“(4) About 7 or 8 percent of Americans will experience post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) at some point in their lives, and about 8 million adults have PTSD during the course of a given year.

“(5) TBI and PTSD have been recognized as the signature injuries of the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“(6) According to the Department of Defense, 383,000 men and women deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan sustained a brain injury while in the line of duty between 2000 and 2018.

“(7) Approximately 13.5 percent of Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom veterans screen positive for PTSD, according to the Department of Veteran Affairs.

“(8) About 12 percent of Gulf War Veterans have PTSD in a given year while about 30 percent of Vietnam Veterans have had PTSD in their lifetime.

“(9) Physical signs of TBI can include motor impairment, dizziness or poor balance, slurred speech, impaired depth perception, or impaired verbal memory, while physical signs of PTSD can include agitation, irritability, hostility, hypervigilance, self-destructive behavior, fear, severe anxiety, or mistrust.

“(10) Physical signs of TBI and PTSD often overlap with physical signs of alcohol or drug impairment, which complicate a first responder’s ability to quickly and effectively identify an individual’s condition.”