SACRAMENTO COUNTY, CA (MPG) - Our firefighters, law enforcement, and EMTs put themselves in harm's way every day to keep our communities safe and healthy. We have an obligation to be there for them in their time of need.

With the passage of the HERO Act, we are getting critical resources to our first responders who have given so much for our communities.

I’m proud to report the House of Representatives passed this week my bill, the Helping Emergency Responders Overcome Act (HERO) Act, which will provide critical mental health resources to our nation’s police officers, firefighters, and EMTs.

In 2018, I met with Sacramento-area fire chiefs who told me that firefighters face high and increasing rates of suicide. They shared that their own colleagues had died by suicide, and that the first responder community lacked the resources to tackle this crisis. After our meeting, I also discovered that the United States doesn't track how many firefighters and EMTs that die by suicide each year.

After hearing these stories, I went to work with local and national first responder groups to draft the HERO Act to provide meaningful solutions to these problems.

The HERO Act creates a monitoring system that collects data on suicide incidences among first responders, while also identifying risk factors and possible interventions. It also requires the Department of Health and Human Services to develop and distribute best practices on the prevention and treatment of posttraumatic stress among first responders.

My bill is especially important during COVID-19, as the pandemic is only increasing stresses for our police officers, firefighters, and EMT. Our first responders are now bearing the additional mental burdens that daily exposure to the virus brings, especially in light of insufficient personal protective equipment.