County paramedics with specific training will be able to place three-day psychiatric holds on individuals and decide if they belong at the hospital or jail under a proposal up for consideration by the Board of Supervisors Tuesday.
Having American Medical Response workers able to make mental assessments might get emergency psychiatric care to people faster and cuts out the need to call a peace officer or doctor to a scene.
Under the Welfare and Institutions Code commonly referred to as 5150 by those in law enforcement and medicine professions a person deemed dangerous as a result of a mental disorder should be taken to an appropriate facility for a 72-hour evaluation period. Currently, a police officer is dispatched to emergency behavioral calls and medics only arrive after the individual is labeled dangerous. Medics are used to transport the patients but have no other input into where they are taken.
The proposal will let members of the San Mateo County Mental Assessment and Referral Team pick between leaving the person where they are or taking them to jail, hospital or First Chance.
SMART was created as a collaborative effort between AMR and the Health Department. AMR has provided the paramedic mental health technician service in Santa Barbara County for the last 15 years and county officials used that data in creating its plan.
The SMART paramedic will perform a mental assessment, place a hold and transport as needed. Access to the specialized medics, though, would be limited to 911 calls. Only medics that undergo 80 hours of county-approved training are eligible to become SMART employees. Four full-time paramedics have already completed the program and three more are expected within the next three months.
According to a staff report on the proposal, up to 70 percent of emergency responses to behavioral emergencies could be handled by a SMART vehicle in 2005-2006.
The $1.134 million contract with AMR also includes transporting mental health patients to and from court hearings, evaluations or trials. The funding will come from various budgets, like emergency medical services and health administration, that are already approved.
The Board of Supervisors meets at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 6 in Board Chambers, 400 County Government Center, Redwood City.
