Bill 574.

Summary.

The bill establishes a mandatory framework for psychological care and psychosocial support for personnel responding to accidents, emergencies, disasters, homicides and other emotionally distressing events. It would apply nationwide to response personnel in the listed public entities. Private institutions taking part in these activities under an agreement with the State could also adopt its provisions. Its purposes include protecting mental health, incorporating support into occupational health and workplace safety policies, providing free and confidential access to services, and gathering information on psychosocial risks.

The text defines psychological care, psychosocial support, high impact events and response personnel, including public servants and accredited volunteers who intervene directly. It also defines secondary prevention and institutional programs. Its governing principles are confidentiality and freedom from stigmatization, shared institutional responsibility, human dignity, a human rights approach, integrated care and prevention. In this connection, it refers to rights recognized by the Constitution (Constitución), the law and international treaties ratified by the Republic of Panama (República de Panamá).

The Ministry of Health (Ministerio de Salud), in coordination with the Social Security Fund (Caja de Seguro Social) and the covered entities, would provide technical guidance for designing and updating programs, promote links with the mental health service network, support their gradual implementation and encourage the use of information on psychosocial risks. Each institution would have to create, strengthen or adapt programs and protocols covering initial and periodic psychological assessments, crisis intervention, meetings after incidents, follow-up and referrals to specialized services. They would also cover prevention and self-care, early identification of warning signs and, when necessary, rotation or reassignment of duties.

Institutions would have to offer psychological care systematically, free of charge and accessibly. In certain cases, it could be recommended or ordered as an occupational health measure where reasonable indications of an impairment suggest a risk to the person's safety or that of others, subject to the employee's rights and guarantees. The service would be confidential except where the law requires disclosure of a serious and imminent risk. Reprisals, discrimination and adverse effects on performance reviews, promotion or job security for participating, requesting support or voicing mental health concerns would be prohibited. Such conduct would constitute a serious disciplinary offense, subject to investigation, due process and the applicable sanctions, without excluding other forms of liability.

The bill requires periodic training for supervisors and operational and administrative personnel; internal records containing anonymized statistics on interventions, events, activities and program indicators; and human, technical and financial resources in annual institutional budgets. The Ministry of Health could request consolidated information without identifying data. The Executive Branch (Órgano Ejecutivo) would consider those resources when preparing the General State Budget. The Ministry of Health would promote interinstitutional technical meetings. The Executive Branch, through the Ministry of Health, would issue implementing regulations within no more than seis meses after promulgation. Institutions would have up to 12 meses from entry into force to adjust their programs and management instruments. The proposed law would enter into force upon promulgation in the Official Gazette (Gaceta Oficial).

The content concerns the Meritorious Fire Corps of the Republic of Panama (Benemérito Cuerpo de Bomberos de la República de Panamá), the Panamanian Red Cross (Cruz Roja panameña), the Ministry of Security (Ministerio de Seguridad), the National Civil Protection System (Sistema Nacional de Protección CiviL, SINAPROC), the Unified Emergency Management System (Sistema Único de Manejo de Emergencias, SUME 911), the Public Prosecutor's Office (Ministerio Público), the Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences (Instituto de Medicina Legal y Ciencias Forenses), the Ministry of Health and the Social Security Fund. It could interest or affect their rescue, security, investigation, justice and health teams, accredited volunteers, universities, mental health organizations and private institutions responding to emergencies under state agreements.