Increasingly, areas have recognized that behavioral deviations are often the result of a physiological problem, which is why medical assessments for behavioral health emergencies have become a widely accepted standard. The goal? Creating a happier, healthier community where behavioral emergencies are not criminalized. This article spotlights the value of medical assessments in behavioral health emergencies.
Providing medical assessments offers numerous benefits. First, you have less overuse of the police officer’s time, with more behavioral 911 calls being diverted to medical teams. Second, fewer people are criminalized for a true behavioral health emergency. Finally, there is an opportunity to jump-start the behavioral care process.
Now, let’s review a few more details, including the problem and its solution.
What Heightens The Value of Medical Assessments in Behavioral Health Emergencies?
Behavioral health emergencies have been mistaken for criminal incidents, resulting in inadequate care and an increased likelihood of the problem recurring. While there are some cases where a behavioral emergency must be handled with force, this must be a last resort rather than a standard practice.
As we go on, you’ll see that balancing the need for treating a behavioral problem as a medical assessment with the need to prevent someone from harming themselves or others can be tricky. A waiver that is too far to either side can cause harm to people.
Either someone with a behavioral problem will be treated as a criminal, or someone who poses an imminent danger to others could be overlooked — neither is a desirable situation.
Below, we’ll not only discuss why medical assessments are so valuable for behavioral health emergencies, but we’ll also explore when and how they are most effective.
Here are a few reasons medical assessments for behavioral emergencies are so important:
- Medical Assessments Lead to Better Long-Term Behavioral Healthcare
- People who Have Behavioral Emergencies Can Act Violently (Preventing Recurrence)
- Behavioral Medical Assessments Lead to Fewer Negative Police Interactions
- Tiered Response for Behavioral Health Emergencies Free PD Time
- Helping Family Members Cope and Providing Long-term Solutions
- Medical Assessment for Psychiatric Patients Can Reduce Bottlenecking at the Emergency Room
Note: The nuances of behavioral emergencies are many. For this article, we are talking about behavioral problems that may result from a true medical issue (for example, someone acting out due to dangerously low blood sugar, stroke, or head injury). However, we understand that there may be unlawful behavior that requires police intervention to control. We discuss this more later.
Medical Assessments Lead to Better Long-Term Behavioral Healthcare
When someone experiences a behavioral emergency, several key components should be considered. Three of these important factors include physical issues, social situation, and psychiatric health. When evaluating a person medically during a behavioral emergency, the standard approach is to start with the most straightforward assessments and then build upon them.
For example, if someone is acting violently within their home, ruling out a diabetic emergency or a urinary tract infection (both of which are known to cause bizarre and sometimes violent behavior) could be a simple fix that prevents recurrence.
However, if someone jumps right to a psychiatric (or criminal) problem with these individuals, not only are they doing a disservice to them, but they are also making it more likely that such incidents will recur within the community. Thankfully, many police officers and paramedics are trained to consider the medical aspects of behavioral emergencies, thereby reducing the risk that the situation will be mishandled.
Now, let’s discuss what happens when a behavioral emergency becomes violent.
People Who Have Behavioral Emergencies Can Act Violently (Preventing Recurrence)
There is no doubt that sometimes, regardless of how it happened, the police will need to take quick action to stop someone experiencing a behavioral emergency from harming others. Whether the person is convicted of a crime or released is, in this case, irrelevant. The goal is to diagnose and treat the problem so that it does not recur.
For example, if someone is behaving violently due to alcohol intoxication, they may be arrested. In this case, the person may be charged and convicted for their crime, but the fact remains that if they can be treated medically for their substance abuse, they are less likely to act violently in the future.
In all cases of behavioral abnormality, whether a crime is suspected or not, the person should receive a medical assessment and diagnosis, which can hopefully prevent the problem from happening again.
Next, we discuss how medical assessments can reduce negative police interactions.
Behavioral Medical Assessments Lead to Fewer Negative Police Interactions
We’ve all seen or heard of situations where a police officer reacts to a situation with excessive force. These instances are devastating for the community and pose significant challenges for law enforcement agencies.
In some cases, the responding officers had a legitimate reason to react the way they did (the person may have been acting threatening, for example). However, when it is discovered that the person has a medical problem, there is serious pushback. Both sides want to avoid this situation. And medical assessments can help.
If a responding police officer has a “medical problem” at the top of mind, there is a good chance that they will work toward having the person assessed by paramedics (rather than detaining them). With this mindset, police officers can protect themselves and protect the community, reducing situations where force is used in excess.
Tiered Response for Behavioral Health Emergencies Free PD Time
Another aspect of medical assessments for an urgent behavioral crisis is how the event is dispatched. If someone exhibiting “strange behavior” is automatically assigned a complete police response, there is a significant risk of a negative interaction with the police. Not only that, but this often needlessly binds police officers to medical calls (when their resources could be better used elsewhere).
In some areas, co-responder programs have become the norm. In these cases, a dispatcher may still send police officers to a behavioral call. Still, they will also dispatch a trained medical team to assess and de-escalate the situation if possible.
Helping Family Members Cope and Providing Long-term Solutions
The person experiencing the behavioral crisis is not the only one impacted. In many cases, the immediate family is also heavily affected by the event. While police officers may have to restrain a violent person, they may not be equipped to educate the family on how to cope with a future problem.
When communities build a medical response to behavioral emergencies, not only does the person experiencing the episode get better care, but the family is also connected to new resources. In some cases, social workers will be part of these response teams, enabling them to offer assistance to family members who may not know where to turn for help.
In addition to social workers, mental health professionals may also collaborate with paramedics and nurses to provide medical assessments, enabling them to offer the family guidance and tools to address behavioral issues moving forward.
Finally, let’s talk about the ER and mental health/behavioral emergencies.
Medical Assessment for Psychiatric Patients Can Reduce Bottlenecking at the Emergency Room
It’s no secret that emergency departments everywhere are overwhelmed with patients and often lack sufficient staff. While the emergency department will always be open for someone experiencing an emergency, there are many times when non-urgent cases are funneled to the ER. Why?
They have nowhere else to go.
Often, the same mobile integrated health teams that provide medical assessments for behavioral emergencies will also make decisions on alternative destinations. For example, some people who have experienced a behavioral incident may not need an ER, they may need a specialized mental health center.
When these types of hospital diversion programs are implemented successfully, it leads to great satisfaction for the patient and the provider. While there are many hurdles to overcome to make these programs more widespread, the effort to improve community health often proves worthwhile, as ERs see a decrease in super-utilizers and health systems experience improvements in long-term health and a reduction in lost revenue.
Conclusion: The Value of Medical Assessments in Behavioral Health Emergencies and Psychiatric Episodes
As you can see, the handling of behavioral health emergencies should always include a medical assessment, either before or after the police are involved. When “medical” is at the top of responders’ minds, it means more people land in a treatment center (instead of jail).
Even in cases when a crime has been committed, providing a medical assessment and offering follow-up to that person can reduce the recurrence of the crime (such as in cases of alcohol intoxication and violent behavior). Overall, providing medical assessments to individuals experiencing a behavioral event is the right thing to do, as it leads to increased trust in medical providers and law enforcement officers.
Contact Julota for more information on how their safe, efficient, interoperable software tools can help mobile integrated health teams coordinate, document, and deliver efficient psychiatric health evaluations. A representative would be happy to hear your service’s needs and offer a no-strings attached demonstration.