PRINTER'S NO. 1110
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE RESOLUTION
No.
189
Session of
2017
INTRODUCED BY DAVIS, DEAN, FREEMAN, BIZZARRO, DiGIROLAMO,
DeLUCA, DRISCOLL, MACKENZIE, BURNS, DONATUCCI, HENNESSEY,
McNEILL, MURT, BARRAR, THOMAS, KINSEY, SCHWEYER, SAINATO,
WARREN, CALTAGIRONE, MILLARD, WARD, LONGIETTI, CHARLTON,
NEILSON, READSHAW, BULLOCK, GOODMAN, D. COSTA, O'BRIEN,
MARSICO, GILLEN, RYAN, KORTZ AND V. BROWN, MARCH 27, 2017
INTRODUCED AS NONCONTROVERSIAL RESOLUTION UNDER RULE 35,
MARCH 27, 2017
A RESOLUTION
Designating the month of September 2017 as "Code Green: First
Responders Suicide Prevention and Awareness Month" in
Pennsylvania.
WHEREAS, First responders, including law enforcement
officers, firefighters and paramedics, routinely and
courageously confront risk; and
WHEREAS, First responders draw on training and experience to
make sound decisions in the middle of a crime scene, four-alarm
fire or medical emergency and, when duty requires, experience
horrors, trauma and loss that few, if any, can imagine; and
WHEREAS, For many years, the prevailing culture among first
responders has been stoicism; and
WHEREAS, All trauma a first responder had experienced was to
be dealt with quietly and dealt with alone, and the first
responder was expected to return to work; and
WHEREAS, Thanks to efforts like The Code Green Campaign,
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after many decades that culture is changing; and
WHEREAS, The first responder community is learning that
emotional health, in addition to physical health, is critical to
readiness and that seeking support is a sign of strength and not
weakness; and
WHEREAS, The Code Green Campaign was founded in March 2014 by
a group of emergency medical services (EMS) professionals who
had been growing increasingly concerned about the high rate of
suicide among fellow first responders and the lack of discussion
about mental health in the profession; and
WHEREAS, The Code Green Campaign takes its name from both the
color of the mental health awareness ribbon and the code alerts
that EMS uses to designate an emergency patient; and
WHEREAS, Code green symbolizes that first responders are
calling a code alert on their own mental health; and
WHEREAS, The mission of The Code Green Campaign is to bring
awareness to and reduce the high rates of mental health issues
among first responders, eliminate the stigma that prevents first
responders from admitting these issues exist and asking for
help, educate first responders on self-care and peer care and
lobby for systemic change among first responder agencies; and
WHEREAS, The Code Green campaign raises awareness by giving
first responders an outlet to tell individual stories of mental
health issues anonymously and republishing those stories so the
stories can be viewed by everyone; and
WHEREAS, It also allows those who do not have firsthand
experience with mental health issues to understand that mental
health issues can affect anyone, thereby decreasing the stigma;
and
WHEREAS, In the future, The Code Green Campaign hopes to
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provide education to first responders, agencies and communities;
and
WHEREAS, More information and additional resources about The
Code Green Campaign, suicide prevention and suicide awareness
can be found at www.codegreencampaign.org; therefore be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives designate the
month of September 2017 as "Code Green: First Responders Suicide
Prevention and Awareness Month" in Pennsylvania; and be it
further
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives urge all
residents to understand the behavioral health issues of first
responders and recognize that when first responders take better
care of themselves, they can better serve our community; and be
it further
RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to
the Pennsylvania State Lodge Fraternal Order of Police, the
Pennsylvania Chiefs of Police Association, the Pennsylvania
Emergency Medical Services Council and the Pennsylvania
Professional Fire Fighters Association.
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