Glossary Check: Tenn. ‘Mental Injury,’ Presumption for Firefighters

Gallatin, TN (WorkersCompensation.com) -- In Tennessee, "injury" and "personal injury" include "mental injury," which state law defines as a loss of mental faculties or a mental or behavioral disorder, arising primarily out of a compensable physical injury or an identifiable work-related event resulting in a sudden or unusual stimulus.

"Mental injury" does not include a psychological or psychiatric response due to the loss of employment or employment opportunities.

New legislation in the Volunteer State creates a legal presumption that an injury was incurred in the line of duty if a firefighter is diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder by a mental health professional as a result of responding to one or more incidents with at least one of the following determining factors:

+ Directly witnessing the death of a minor, or treating the injury of a minor, who subsequently died before or upon arrival at a hospital emergency department.
+ Directly witnessing an individual whose death involved a serious bodily injury of a nature that shocks the conscience.
+ Responding to an event where there was a victim with a serious bodily injury that shocks the conscience.
+ Responding to an event where a responder, coworker of a responder, or family member of a responder sustained a serious bodily injury or died.

Under the firefighter presumption, the injury is compensable under the Workers' Compensation Law unless it is shown by a preponderance of the evidence that the post-traumatic stress disorder was caused by non-service-connected risk factors or non-service-connected exposure.

The new legislation applies to a firefighter who is diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder within one year of the firefighter's final date of employment with the employer fire department.

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