{"data":{"id":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-85a-85a-13","jurisdiction":"us-ok","citation":"Okla. Stat. tit. 85A, § 85A-13","heading":"Mental injury or illness","body":"A. 1. A mental injury or illness is not a compensable injury\n\nunless caused by a physical injury to the employee, and shall not be\n\nconsidered an injury arising out of and in the course and scope of\n\nemployment or compensable unless demonstrated by a preponderance of\n\nthe evidence; provided, however, that this physical injury\n\nlimitation shall not apply to any victim of a crime of violence, a\n\nlaw enforcement officer, paid or volunteer firefighter, or emergency\n\nmedical technician employed on a full-time basis by a municipality,\n\ncounty, or this state, or a volunteer firefighter, who suffers post-\n\ntraumatic stress disorder, as defined in subsection E of this\n\nsection, while responding to an emergency. For the purposes of this\n\nsection, such employee shall be referred to as a first responder.\n\n2. No mental injury or illness under this section shall be\n\ncompensable unless it is also diagnosed by a licensed psychiatrist\n\nor psychologist and unless the diagnosis of the condition meets the\n\ncriteria established in the most current issue of the Diagnostic and\n\nStatistical Manual of Mental Disorders.\n\nB. 1. Notwithstanding any other provision of the\n\nAdministrative Workers’ Compensation Act, where a claim is for\n\nmental injury or illness, the employee shall be limited to twenty-\n\nsix (26) weeks of disability benefits unless it is shown by clear\n\nand convincing evidence that benefits should continue for a set\n\nperiod of time, not to exceed a total of fifty-two (52) weeks. If\n\nthe treating physician is of the opinion that the first responder is\n\ntemporarily unable to perform his or her job or any alternative work\n\noffered by the employer, he or she shall be entitled to receive\n\ncompensation which is the greater of the weekly benefit provided for\n\nin a collective bargaining agreement or according to the policy of\n\nthe employer, or seventy percent (70%) of the injured employee’s\n\naverage weekly wage, not to exceed the state average weekly wage.\n\nIf the employee has a temporary pension benefit available at no\n\nadditional cost to the employee and the benefit is equal to or\n\ngreater than the temporary award in this system, the employer may\n\nelect to exercise the temporary pension benefit. In no event shall\n\ndisability benefits extend beyond fifty-two (52) weeks.\n\n2. Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, a first\n\nresponder who receives benefits provided herein for a mental injury\n\nor illness not accompanied by a physical injury who, after reaching\n\nmaximum medical improvement, is unable to perform the essential\n\nfunctions of his or her employment position and who is not eligible\n\nto receive a disability retirement through his or her pension or\n\nretirement system shall be eligible to be awarded permanent\n\ndisability benefits not to exceed Fifty Thousand Dollars\n\n($50,000.00) as provided for in this act.\n\n3. a. In cases where death results directly from the mental\n\ninjury or illness within a period of one (1) year,\n\ncompensation shall be paid to the dependents as\n\nprovided in other death cases under the Administrative\n\nWorkers’ Compensation Act.\n\nb. Death directly or indirectly related to the mental\n\ninjury or illness occurring one (1) year or more from\n\nthe incident resulting in the mental injury or illness\n\nshall not be a compensable injury.\n\nC. 1. In the event that the Oklahoma Workers’ Compensation\n\nCommission finds that a first responder has suffered post-traumatic\n\nstress disorder not accompanied by a physical injury, the employer\n\nshall provide reasonable and necessary medical treatment for such\n\ninjury, subject to the Oklahoma Workers’ Compensation Commission’s\n\nFee Schedule, for a period not longer than one (1) year. The\n\nemployer shall not be responsible for medical treatment in the form\n\nof prescription medicine in excess of Ten Thousand Dollars\n\n($10,000.00).\n\n2. During any period in which a first responder is temporarily\nll provide reasonable and necessary medical treatment for such\n\ninjury, subject to the Oklahoma Workers’ Compensation Commission’s\n\nFee Schedule, for a period not longer than one (1) year. The\n\nemployer shall not be responsible for medical treatment in the form\n\nof prescription medicine in excess of Ten Thousand Dollars\n\n($10,000.00).\n\n2. During any period in which a first responder is temporarily\n\nunable to perform his or her job, the employer shall pay to maintain\n\nhealth insurance coverage for the first responder, if such health\n\ninsurance was in effect on the date of the injury.\n\nD. For the purposes of this section, claim payments for\n\nvolunteer firefighters shall be paid pursuant to the Volunteer\n\nFirefighter Group Insurance Pool.\n\nE. For the purposes of this section:\n\n1. “Post-traumatic stress disorder” means an injury or\n\ncondition in which a first responder has been exposed to a traumatic\n\nevent and:\n\na. has experienced, witnessed, or was confronted with an\n\nevent that involved actual or threatened death or\n\nserious injury, or a threat to the physical integrity\n\nof others, and the response involved fear,\n\nhelplessness, or horror,\n\nb. the traumatic event is persistently re-experienced in\n\none or more of the following ways:\n\n(1) recurrent and intrusive distressing recollections\n\nof the event,\n\n(2) recurrent distressing dreams,\n\n(3) acting or feeling as if the traumatic event was\n\nrecurring,\n\n(4) intense psychological distress at exposure to\n\ncues that symbolize an aspect of the traumatic\n\nevent, or\n\n(5) physiological reactivity on exposure to cues that\n\nsymbolize an aspect of the traumatic event,\n\nc. persistent avoidance of stimuli associated with the\n\ntrauma and numbing of general responsiveness such as\n\nefforts to avoid thoughts, feelings, or conversations\n\nassociated with the trauma, markedly diminished\n\ninterest or participation in significant activities,\n\nor a feeling of detachment or estrangement from\n\nothers,\n\nd. persistent symptoms of increased arousal such as\n\ndifficulty falling or staying asleep, irritability or\n\noutbursts of anger, difficulty concentrating, or\n\nhypervigilance,\n\ne. the duration of the disturbance is more than one (1)\n\nmonth, and\n\nf. the disturbance causes clinically significant distress\n\nor impairment in social, occupational, or other\n\nimportant areas of functioning;\n\n2. “Volunteer firefighter” means a person who is enrolled as a\n\nmember of a volunteer fire department with two or less salaried\n\nfirefighters and who serves in such capacity without receiving a\n\nregular salary; and\n\n3. “Emergency medical technician” means a person who holds a\n\nlicense as an emergency medical technician, an intermediate or\n\nadvanced emergency medical technician, or a paramedic, issued by the\n\nState Department of Health to perform emergency medical services in\n\naccordance with the Oklahoma Emergency Response Systems Development\n\nAct and the rules and standards promulgated by the State\n\nCommissioner of Health.","path":["OK Code","Title 85A"],"source_url":"https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os85A.pdf","current_through":"2026-08-14","vintage":"open-us-law v2026.08, retrieved 2026-09-14","retrieved_at":"2026-09-14T18:32:36Z","sha256":"f1b8b8ca8a69527b2f054c42e87121a73e45353111536b13d3726a61a113ecab","source_id":"us-ok","stale":false,"prev":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-85a-85a-126","next":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-85a-85a-14"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}