Behavioral emergencies comprise a significant number of police and EMS responses. In this article, you’ll learn the crucial role medical assessments play in behavioral health emergencies –– and why forgoing routine medical assessments can be disastrous.
Medical assessments improve outcomes for behavioral health emergencies by not assuming that all their problems are psychiatric in origin. Often, an underlying medical problem is causing a behavioral issue, or at least worsens an existing one. Medical assessments ensure nothing is missed and give people the best chance at positive outcomes.
Why Behavioral Health Emergencies Require a Medical Assessment
A behavioral emergency can be scary for the person experiencing it, frightening for the family, and potentially dangerous for responders. For this reason, it’s crucial that behavioral emergencies are handled with care and that responders make no assumptions about the person’s condition.
Below, we’ll talk about why assessing the medical side of a behavioral crisis is so important, and how community paramedic programs and mobile integrated health teams (such as co-responders) make this possible.
Before discussing these points, we want to emphasize the importance of safety. People (family, responder, patient) can get hurt during behavioral health emergencies. This is tragic on every front. Whether the injury was the patient’s “Fault” or not, these situations reverberate negatively throughout a community.
Avoiding injuries and staying safe during behavioral health situations is critical to maintaining responder morale, as well as ensuring that all behavioral health patients don’t become stigmatized as “violent” or “criminals.” With all that said, after reading this article, take some time to look at our article on how responders can stay safe.
Here are the ways medical assessments improve behavioral health outcomes:
- Medical Assessments Help Recognize Causes of Behavioral Abnormality
- Behavioral Health Emergencies are Not Crimes
- Medical Assessments for Behavioral Health Emergencies Reduce Negative Police Interactions
- MIH Medical Assessments for Psychiatric Emergencies Allow Early Mental Health Care
- Medical Assessments Allow for Positive Social and Economic Intervention
- Behavioral Assessments Allow for a Holistic Community Response
You’ll find more nuance and details below.
Medical Assessments Help Recognize Causes of Behavioral Abnormality
Many behavioral problems begin as medical issues. There is a host of known medical conditions that can make people behave in violent or strange ways. For example, when someone has hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), they can often become combative or violent.
Further, some people who have urinary tract infections have been known to become angry and not themselves when the infection becomes severe enough. Finally, many people who have experienced bad head injuries will be confused and sometimes violent toward responders.
While officer safety is always a priority, it’s heartbreaking when individuals facing genuine medical challenges don’t receive the care they need and are instead caught in the criminal justice system. Yes, responders must stay safe (regardless of why the patient is acting violently). Yes, there are times when a reasonable action must be taken to protect the patient from harming themselves or others.
But this does not mean that people having behavioral health emergencies should be overlooked medically. Many times, there is more to the story than meets the eye. Even those who are struggling with substance abuse or long-term psychiatric issues need help to combat their underlying ailment, not just punishment for their actions when their condition worsens.
Indeed, this is a fine line, and one that is hotly debated: if someone under the influence of substances or other psychiatric impairment commits a crime, are they responsible? While this may be discussed in the courts, what cannot be debated is that everyone experiencing a behavioral emergency should receive a medical screening to ensure nothing is missed.
Behavioral Health Emergencies are Not Crimes and Must be Treated as Medical Problems First
Someone can commit a crime during a behavioral health episode; however, for this discussion, we are not getting into the weeds about what is or is not a crime. This article is not meant to be legal advice; it is a commentary on the importance of emphasizing medical assessments for behavioral health problems.
One of the goals of medical assessments for behavioral health is that, hopefully, more people can get medical treatment and avoid going to jail. While jail may be unavoidable in some cases, most data shows that receiving alternative help and rehab would be more beneficial in the long run.
Now let’s talk about the other aspect of a medical response to behavioral crisis – the strain on police officers.
Medical Assessments for Behavioral Health Emergencies Reduce Negative Police Interactions
It’s been no secret that lately, members of the first responder community (EMS, LE, Fire) have been struggling with an increase in call volume, particularly those related to mental health and behavioral issues.
In many communities, the police are some of the first ones on scene. While this is a needed response in some cases where there is clear violence, other times it can cause problems. How?
First, it takes a police officer out of service. Officers are flooded in many areas with mental health and behavioral calls, leaving them with little time to respond to true crimes. A medical response reduces this burden on police officers and passes it to EMS and special co-response teams trained and ready to handle the situation.
Second, the presence of a police officer can sometimes cause escalation of the scene. In most cases, this is of no fault of the officer – they are simply there to help; however, as we know, people don’t always see it that way. Those already experiencing a behavioral crisis may have increased anxiety and even become more violent if they feel they may be at risk of arrest.
It’s much better for a co-responder team trained in de-escalation to handle these calls, effectively reducing officers’ time on scene and avoiding negative interactions.
MIH Medical Assessments for Psychiatric Emergencies Allow Early Mental Health Care
Many people experiencing a behavioral health emergency have underlying mental health conditions. These people may struggle with schizophrenia, severe depression, or suicidal thoughts.
Regardless of the issue, a medical response to a behavioral emergency ensures the patient has the best chance of receiving the mental healthcare they need. In many cases, the co-responder team will have a trained professional on scene to assist with alleviating the crisis and building the foundation for a positive outcome.
Medical Assessments Allow for Positive Social and Economic Intervention for Behavioral Emergencies
Many people experiencing a behavioral emergency may need more than just physical help; they may also struggle in other ways. When mobile integrated health teams respond to a behavioral emergency, they are in a position to provide other services.
For example, some MIH teams will have a social worker who responds with them. In these situations, the social worker can assess the patient and ensure that they have basic needs: safe housing, good food, and know how to access various types of health and spiritual care if needed.
This kind of response has several benefits. First, it reduces the adverse outcomes often associated with a behavioral problem (we discussed this in previous sections, particularly when there is an altercation between the patient and PD). Second, it helps correct the root problem.
All the medical and social assistance in the world can’t help someone on a shaky foundation. And that’s what MIH and medical assessments are all about: giving people a firm foundation to build their future health and wellness.
Behavioral Assessments Allow for a Holistic Community Response
Mobile Integrated Healthcare knows that no “one size fits all” approach exists. Some health departments and community responders will try to take everything on themselves, but the result is often burnout, lack of resources, or an inability to expand services.
In providing medical assessments for behavioral health emergencies, responders seek to create a holistic response that utilizes the expertise of many professions. You have EMS to ensure that there are no life-threatening medical issues, mental health professionals to help with psychiatric struggles, social workers to help with housing and hunger, and police officers to keep everyone safe.
When communities can come together like this, the result is higher impact and much better outcomes for those experiencing behavioral and psychiatric emergencies.
Let’s go over a few final thoughts.
Conclusion: The True Value of Medical Assessments for Behavioral Health Crisis
Medical assessments are a crucial part of responding to a behavioral health emergency, as they ensure that the patient is treated for any potentially underlying life-threatening threats. Also, medical assessments as part of co-responder teams reduce the strain on police officers while concurrently bringing down the number of negative police interactions.
Communities that come together to deliver a positive response to behavioral emergencies are well on their way to building a more positive health system.
Contact Julota to see how their interoperable software can help bring communities together and improve response to behavioral health emergencies.