AR HB1935

Defines "emergency responder" to include emergency medical technicians, paramedics, firefighters, law enforcement officers, and other emergency medical service workers with 40 hours of approved curriculum.

Exempts emergency responders with a qualifying condition (post-traumatic stress disorder) from the requirement that mental injury be caused by physical injury to the employee's body.

Limits mental injury or illness claims by emergency responders to 26 weeks of disability benefits and restricts each responder to three lifetime claims for qualifying conditions.

Requires mental injury claims to be diagnosed by a licensed psychiatrist or psychologist and meet criteria in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, with qualifying event being direct line-of-duty exposure to traumatic bodily injury, harm to a minor, immediate threat to life, or mass casualties.

Establishes a two-year filing deadline for emergency responder mental injury claims measured from the qualifying event, and provides that death from the condition within one year results in dependent compensation while death after one year is not compensable.