NEW YORK — Teams of mental health professionals and EMTs responding to 911 calls in a pilot program in Harlem have reduced the rate of hospitalizations for people in crisis, data released by New York City shows.
But advocates say more work is needed to eliminate police from mental health emergencies as three quarters of the calls in the pilot were still routed to police.
The numbers released Thursday from the Mayor’s Office of Community Mental Health provides the first look into the pilot program that pairs social workers and EMTs — rather than armed police officers — to answer mental health emergency calls…
At their last council meeting, the City of San Luis Obispo approved a budget to add a second Community Action Team, also known as CAT.
Kelsey Nocket, the city’s homelessness response manager, said CAT is comprised of two people — a police officer paired with a mental health clinician. The two respond to 9-1-1 as well as non-emergency dispatch related calls where people may be suffering from a potential mental health or substance abuse crisis…
Emergency personnel are pushing for workers compensation to cover mental health leave.
LEXINGTON, S.C. — Emergency personnel are pushing for workers compensation to cover mental health leave. Currently, if a firefighter or police officer suffers PTSD on the job, they’re not covered.
House Bill 3939 states, the “amended bill exempts first responders from having to establish by a preponderance of the evidence that the conditions leading to stress, mental injury, or mental illness stemmed from extraordinary or unusual relative to the normal conditions of employment for purposes of collecting workers’ compensation.”
Lexington County Fire Service Chief Mark Davis has been a firefighter for 30 years. He says during his service, he has had at least 100 colleagues and friends experience mental health issues due to the job…
Matt Ballou Photos courtesy of Ballou family
Matthew Ballou, a South Berwick firefighter and Biddeford Public Safety dispatcher known for his easy smile, quick wit and professionalism, died Wednesday following a complication from surgery. He was 32.
Ballou died at home in South Berwick after suffering a medical emergency stemming from surgery he had about a month ago to repair a torn Achilles tendon, said his wife, Tiffany Ballou.
A 2006 graduate of Camden High School, Ballou was drawn to a public safety career early on, joining the Lincolnville Fire Department as a senior. He went on to attend the fire science program at Southern Maine Community College and earned his Firefighter 1 and 2 certifications. He later became a dispatcher for Knox County Communications…
One company said it was deliberately excluded from multi-million dollar contracts with Bakersfield, Kern County, and Taejong Ranch to upgrade the county’s public security communications network.
EF Johnson, a Minnesota-based radio maker, wrote in a June letter to the county’s General Procurement Department that Kang’s procurement policy was in a way that county authorities endangered first responders’ safety and harmed the company. Claimed to have violated.
EF Johnson, a subsidiary of Japanese multinational JVC Kenwood, has begun the process of bidding for an estimated $ 78 million in wireless and microwave system upgrades before unexpectedly withdrawing…
