Q&A
Council Member Holden questions the triage process for mental health crisis calls
3:09:24
·
173 sec
Council Member Robert Holden inquires about the triage process for mental health crisis calls, focusing on response times and decision-making in complex situations. Assistant Chief Cesar Escobar from FDNY provides insights into their procedures, including the use of computerized triage algorithms and the challenges of third-party callers.
- The discussion highlights the difficulty in assessing situations quickly and accurately, especially when multiple calls are received about the same incident.
- Escobar explains that calls often start with NYPD and are then transferred to EMS for further triage.
- The conversation touches on the definition of violence in crisis situations and how it affects the response.
Robert Holden
3:09:24
We had another event, but and this might have been answered.
3:09:28
But the triage, when you get a call and you said and when I left, you were you were getting multiple calls on the same individual, let's say, and deciding on what to do, who to send, that sometimes is very, very difficult because you don't wanna air, and then something happens.
3:09:46
You the error is made, and then somebody loses their life.
3:09:50
So it's a that 911 operator has a tremendous responsibility or operators.
3:09:55
So if it comes in 5 different 6 different ways, 6 different calls, the assessment has to be done quickly.
3:10:04
Right?
3:10:04
Because seconds matter.
3:10:07
What's the turnaround time on the average turnaround time on these these calls when somebody's having a mental health crisis?
3:10:16
Like, is it do you have a general how many minutes, 5 minutes before a decision is made?
Cesar Escobar
3:10:26
I don't have the exact number, but it it is you know, we have been improving the number of communication members that we have at our dispatch center in order to be able to triage more calls.
3:10:39
And, you know, many calls that come in obviously start off with NYPD.
3:10:44
Once they are transferred to EMS, they go through a a computerized triage algorithm where one of our specialists will be asking questions to see if it meets the criteria for our be her team's to respond.
3:10:56
Now when there are multiple calls in the systems that come in, usually those all get linked up and only one person is really talking to the caller.
3:11:05
But, you know, we have seen that many of the calls that come in for mental health emergencies are not the caller directly.
3:11:12
It's a third person, a third party caller, or somebody else that has very limited information, and that is why we air on the side of caution with many of these calls.
3:11:22
And and I know, you know, previously, we talked about violence and the definition of violence.
3:11:27
And we do take what the members that are on the call tell us as what is happening.
3:11:34
So one of the questions is is there a violence?
3:11:36
And if the person says yes, they will go down the line of needing NNYPD response.
Robert Holden
3:11:41
And we all and we all know sometimes when somebody does call, it it's not the way they said it or the way it was interpreted.
3:11:49
So that that is and it's not an exact science because I know when I call 911, I'll tell the operator something and it comes out very differently.
3:11:58
Same thing on 311.
3:11:59
So there's always that human error part of it or at least how it's interpreted So that is why it you know, we need to come up with a system that can get a get very accurate information as quickly, you know, out there as possible because lives are at stake here.
3:12:15
But but thank you for for that answer.
3:12:17
Thanks.
