Rights and Legal Issues

Persons Experiencing Psychiatric Crises: Information for Emergency Department Staff and Others Regarding Available Resources, Protocols, and Requirements

While the DHHS Office of Adult Mental Health Services (OAMHS) encourages crisis providers to provide crisis services in settings other than Emergency Departments, in fact consumers often choose to go to the Emergency Department, and that setting is often seen by members of the community as where to go in a crisis.

The Office of Adult Mental Health Services provides the following information on available resources, protocols, contacts, and requirements:

• How Do I Contact Crisis Service Providers, and Who Qualifies for Their Services?
• How Could A Crisis Worker Be Helpful to Emergency Department Staff When An Individual Comes to an ED in Psychiatric Crisis?
• How Could Community Mental Health Providers Be Helpful to Emergency Department and other Hospital Staff?
• How Could A Peer Support Worker Be Helpful to Emergency Department Staff When An Individual Comes to an ED in Psychiatric Crisis?
• If an Individual Needs Hospitalization, How is it Determined Where the Individual Should Be Hospitalized?
• What happens when someone is "stuck" in the ED because a bed is not available, or for some other reason?
• What Alternatives to Hospitalization Are Available?
• Contact Information for Crisis Service Providers
• Contact Information for the Office of Adult Mental Health Services' Adult Mental Health Team Leaders

Complete FAQ's in (Microsoft Word*)  (Adobe PDF*) (free viewer)

If you would like on-site training for your Emergecy Department staff of these topics, please contact the Offfice of Adult Mental Health Services at 287-4243.