Compassionate traumatic stress is very challenging to draw a nexus to CRSC rules. Yes, it is real, yes the symptoms are identical to post traumatic stress. However if you look up the rules for CRSC there are four areas that qualify for CRSC.
- Armed Conflict
- Hazardous Duty
- An Instrumentality of War
- Simulated War
Let's break them down one by one.
Armed Conflict: You can be granted CRSC if you can draw a nexus between a particular event that has taken place, which is the primary stressor in PTSD symptoms (typical examples are gunshot woulds, mortar attacks, direct hand-to-hand combat etc.) Working with insurgents and hostiles in itself is not enough.
Hazardous Duty: This definition is typically related to those occupations that qualify for hazardous duty pay (diving, etc.), most medical related scenarios are not hazardous duty by the pay definition even though they may be hazardous in nature.
Instrumentality of War: It is challenge to use this definition, because the nature of providing medical treatment is not unique to war, the exact same duty exists out of the theater and is common to day-to-day operations everywhere.
Simulated War: This is typically duties such as lanes training at JTC, combatives, or live fire drills.
They call it combat related SPECIAL compensation, not combat related compensation. The special portion the the definition and how it is written. Perhaps you can recall a stressor that triggers your post traumatic stress that fits within the definition (perhaps a mortar attack in your AO, insurgency that infiltrated the perimeter of your duty station, IED in the AO?
Focus on how that affects you, not so much on the injuries and suffering that you witnessed.