Emergency Mental Health: Assessment and Treatment

• • Quickly assess and triage mental health emergencies
• • Assess and intervene with suicidal, psychotic, and dangerous patients
• • Assess and intervene with substance withdrawal
• • Completing the mental status examination
• • Understand when and how to involuntarily commit patients
• • Inpatient vs. outpatient criteria related to your state and managed care
• • Ethical, legal, and liability issues, including duty to warn and your responsibilities regarding EMTALA
• • Discuss which instruments to use to assess for suicide, violence, sexual aggression, and substance withdrawal
• • Determine when to hospitalize and how to justify the appropriate level of care to insurers
• • Develop effective safety plans and crisis interventions for suicidal and psychotic patients
• • Assess withdrawing patients, including use of the CAGE and CIWA
• • Recognize which psychotropic medications are often associated with which psychiatric diagnoses
• • Examine legal and ethical implications of emergency mental health assessment and treatment

Emergency Mental Health

Mental health emergencies occur daily. They present themselves in emergency rooms nationwide. They present themselves in schools, primary care offices, jails, the workplace, churches, and most anywhere. The majority of people who commit suicide see their primary care physician during the month prior to their death; however, the symptoms of the suicidal patient are often overlooked. Many have spoken with pastors, counselors, or others about their despair. Learning to assess and appropriately intervene can often prevent the patient from attempting suicide. School counselors, managers, and others often encounter the chemically dependent or violent individual. Law enforcement personnel often encounter persons with bizarre behavior and those under the influence of drugs and alcohol. Learning to recognize the symptoms of mental health emergencies and how to address them is often vital to the safety of the individual and others.

In this hands-on and practical seminar, participants will learn how to quickly assess and triage mental health emergencies. Information will be provided on performing suicide and homicide risk assessments, mental status examinations, and evaluation of the need for detoxification. Mr. Webb will discuss recognizing likely diagnoses based on knowledge of the patient's psychotropic medications. Other topics will include the practitioner’s liability regarding emergency mental health, including the practitioner's duty to warn and protect per the Tarasoff court case. The value of "contracts for safety" will also be discussed. Involuntary commitment, inpatient, and outpatient treatment criteria will be discussed in relation to both your state’s statutes and third party payment.