HR Management & Compliance

Mental Health Emergency Calls—When the Police Arrive

In yesterday’s Advisor, the National Alliance for Mental Health (NAMI) provided important information for employers on when (and how) to make a 911 call in the event of a mental health crisis in the workplace. Today, NAMI discusses what happens when police arrive and steps employers can take to prepare for mental health crises.

When Police Arrive

Police are trained to maintain control and ensure safety. The best way to ensure a safe outcome is for everyone to stay calm when the officers arrive.

  • Have the person meeting the police at the entrance say again, “This is a mental health crisis.”
  • Answer any of their questions, and follow their directions.
  • Then, step out of the way.
  • Do not let anyone get too close to the officers or yell at them; everyone must remain as calm as possible.

What Police Can Do

  • Transport a person who wants to go to the hospital. A well-trained Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) officer can often talk to a person who is upset, calm him or her down, and convince the individual to go to the hospital voluntarily.
  • Take a person to a hospital for an involuntary evaluation. In certain circumstances and jurisdictions, police can force a person in crisis to go to the hospital involuntarily.

Important note: Be aware, NAMI says, that your employee may be placed in handcuffs and transported in the back of a police car. This can be extremely upsetting to witnesses, so be sure to calmly explain why this is being done.

What Can Be Done to Prepare for a Mental Health Crisis?

Your supervisors and managers are trained to handle on-site accidents and medical emergencies. They should also be trained to handle incidents involving behavior based on mental health issues.
As discussed, knowing that employees are dealing with specific mental disorders is invaluable in crisis situations. Of course, the information must come from the employee.
“The ideal situation for a person volunteering information on his or her own health issues is where there is already a positive, supportive relationship—i.e., trust—with his or her supervisor,” Bob Corolla, director of communications and public affairs for NAMI, told BLR.
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) allows employers to disclose an employee’s medical information to supervisors and managers if they need medical information to provide reasonable accommodation or to meet an employee’s work restrictions.
The ADA also allows employers to disclose medical information to first-aid and safety personnel if an employee needs medical treatment.
It is also important to have your managers and supervisors know what, and what not, to say, and that they should practice their emergency communication skills until they become an automatic response.
Herb Cotner, a 25-year veteran of the Dallas Police Department where he served as a CIT officer, says, “In law enforcement, officers spend a lot of time training to properly handle crisis events because if we do not respond properly, the outcome can be disastrous.”
“Repetition is critical,” he emphasizes.
“I remember the first time I needed to react in a critical situation,” says Cotner. After it was over, I thought to myself, ‘I did just like I was trained.’”
If you have any questions about making a 911 call for a psychiatric crisis or about handling employees who may have mental health issues, you can call the NAMI helpline at 800-950-6264, where trained volunteers answer calls from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. (EST) Monday through Friday.

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