Contact: Kevin Wasielewski PHEW Phone: 555-9876 PhewForYou@PHEW.

com

123 Street Address City, ST 12345

PHEW

Press Release
(For Immediate Release) PHEW Pushes Mental Health First Aid Training for Emergency Workers Amendment would modify H.R.274 and provide grant funding for states
City, ST, April 15, 2013: Promoting Healing for Emergency Workers (PHEW) is a new advocacy organization whose central mission is to promote the wellness and healing of those who work to keep the rest of us safe, police officers, firefighters, and emergency medical technicians. Towards this end, they are currently proposing an amendment to House Bill 274 which would provide states grant funding to cover incurred costs of requiring all certified practitioners to undergo initial and biennial Mental Health First Aid Training. Founder of the organization, Kevin Wasielewski, will testify in favor of this proposed amendment in front of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, Health Subcommittee on April 30. Why first responders? And why mental health? Yearly, nearly 1-in-3 Americans suffers from some sort of mental health ailment, typically either anxiety or depression, but also including more severe types such as PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) or serious mental illness. These mental health ailments are likely to affect each of us at some point in our lives, but with the increased threat of natural disasters or domestic and international terrorist attacks, emergency workers face these mental health issues far more frequently than the rest of us. Never mind the uncertainty of their day-to-day work and the stressors that go along with it. Their primary job is to help save, rescue, and protect the rest of us, yet nationally there exists a ratio of only 0.009 first responders to each of the rest of us lay citizens. We need to protect our protectors, Kevin Wasielewski adds. If it passes the proposed amendment would grant up to $1,000,000 to states who require Mental Health First Aid training to all first responders and emergency workers who work in the state. Additional funding would be made available to private and non-state affiliate entities under the current proposed legislation. For additional questions about PHEW or the proposed policy amendment, please contact PHEW directly: phewpolicy.weebly.com