April 19, 2016 – The term speech seems too mild a word to describe Charleston County Deputy Sheriff Michael Ackerman’s presentation to the club this week. For three minutes rapt Rotarians were transported into the danger and anxiety lived by first responders daily as Deputy Ackerman played the recording of the radio calls from the night of September 8, 2014, when he and his partner were shot while responding to an incident at the Gardens at Ashley River apartments. Ackerman’s partner died, he was shot in the leg and he faced the life-changing unwanted decision to end the perpetrator’s life. To this day Deputy Ackerman battles PTSD and his attempts to gain assistance with his struggles led to his discovery that the five thousand first responders in the Charleston area as well as those throughout South Carolina, have no coverage under worker’s compensation laws for this service-related injury.
Deputy Ackerman explained that first responders are humans just like us all and they cannot check their emotions when they put on their uniforms. Police officers are trained to shoot at paper targets and such training does not prepare them for the stresses which will come daily in the real world these first responders face. Members of law enforcement are more likely to die from suicide than criminal activity or on-the-job accidents according to Ackerman. Seven percent of first responders have been diagnosed with PTSD as compared to three percent of the general population. And the seven percent diagnosed belies the vast number of first responders who have not been diagnosed. Many hide their pain for fear that a PTSD diagnosis might hamper or even end their career. For many first responders Deputy Ackerman says PTSD and the stresses which lead to it do end careers early. For others the only coping mechanism is alcohol or drugs. Either way law enforcement agencies in South Carolina suffer as a result. The Charleston County Sheriff’s Office is facing a severe shortage of officers as are all South Carolina law enforcement agencies due in no small part to the early burn out of first responders from the job stresses they face daily.
The thirteen year old daughter of two EMS technicians was quoted by Deputy Ackerman as showing a clear knowledge of the sacrifices of first responders of which the rest of us are likely unaware. This young girl relayed how her parents often do not get to eat meals because of the urgency of the calls they receive. They are vomited on, urinated on, defecated on and usually have a stranger’s blood on them when they end their tour. If a young girl like this can recognize the need to assist these first responders, Deputy Ackerman posits that we should see the need to assist our first responders even more clearly.
PTSD is the greatest threat facing first responders in Deputy Ackerman’s opinion and only two words stand in the way of giving these heroes the support they need – “extraordinary” and “unusual.” These words in South Carolina’s worker’s compensation statute make it virtually impossible for first responders who do not suffer a physical injury to receive compensation for PTSD treatment. Many law enforcement officers are paid at levels just above the poverty level. They must work multiple jobs just to make ends meet. As a result they simply do not have the ability to pay from their own meager funds for the treatment they need to overcome PTSD. It is only fair that compensation for this clearly job-related illness should be provided through our worker’s compensation laws and Deputy Ackerman has begun a crusade to make this happen. South Carolina is one of the only states which does not give coverage of PTSD to its first responders and South Carolina Senate Bill S.429 is the key to changing this according to Deputy Ackerman. This bill, if passed, will remove “extraordinary and unusual” as an impediment to much needed treatment for South Carolina’s first responders. Deputy Ackerman implored us to contact our senators and representatives in support of S.429. He asked us a simple question: whenever we are personally faced with a dire situation and need the assistance of law enforcement, who would we prefer to respond – a green rookie or a seasoned officer – because PTSD and the lack of affordable treatment takes experienced first responders away from the line of duty. Deputy Ackerman believes that nothing is more pressing to our law enforcement agencies and, thus, to our citizens’ safety than helping officers overcome PTSD and Senate Bill S.429 is the vehicle to do this.
— Alex Dallis, Keyway Committee