Committee hears bill to expand confidentiality for critical-incident stress teams

Members of the Michigan House Health Policy Committee took testimony on House Bill 48‑57, which would amend provisions of the Michigan Public Health Code (Public Act 368 of 1978) to expand confidentiality protections for critical-incident stress management (CISM) teams and to clarify registration and training requirements for those teams.

Representative Brock introduced the bill and turned testimony to David Edwards, who described himself as a Region 2 South board member of the Michigan Crisis Response Association, wellness officer for the Monroe Public Safety Department, a mobile crisis clinician for the Monroe Community Mental Health Authority, and chief of behavioral health for the Michigan Mortuary Response Team. Edwards told the committee the bill would remove limits in current law that confine confidentiality protections to “emergency service providers” and instead extend protections to “individuals” who receive CISM services.

Edwards said CISM is not psychotherapy and is typically delivered by peers who may not hold…