Behavioral Health Response Program

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The San Ramon Valley Fire Protection District is transforming the way behavioral health crises are managed in the prehospital environment through optimizing the patient care experience from call intake through transport to a facility capable of managing the needs of the community. The Behavioral Health Response Program is designed to provide the right care at the right time resulting in improved 911 caller experience, patient outcomes, and system-wide efficiency.

San Ramon Valley 911 Dispatchers are detecting behavioral health crises by adding a new prompt into 911 call intake. Dispatchers are now answering the phone with, “Is this a Police, Fire, Medical, or Mental Health Emergency?” By adding Mental Health Emergency into the prompt, dispatchers are able to:

Identify mental health emergencies and evaluate the patient for immediate danger to self or others by lethal means,
Identify the need for immediate medical assistance due to suicidal ideation or attempt,
Further triage the patient’s stability to connect them to 988 (a community mental health counselor),
Dispatch medical resources, or
Dispatch San Ramon Police Department to stabilize the situation for appropriate medical resources to safely enter and aid the patient when danger to self or others is imminent.

The District further expands on mental health emergency response by adding Firefighter First Response into the equation. Through Firefighter First Response, District Fire/Medical resources are dispatched with San Ramon Police Department staged nearby. First contact of patient care will be fire personnel who have received Behavioral Health Specialist Training. Firefighter First Personnel can utilize their training to de-escalate the situation in effort to avoid unnecessary 5150’s (72-hour involuntary holds) and transport the patient to appropriate higher level of care better suited to manage the patient’s mental health emergency. Dispatchers are further contacting Mobile Crisis Response Teams to engage the Contra Costa County Mental Health Resources to respond to the location to further assess the situation if transport by the District’s ambulance is not a desired result of Firefighter First Medical/Mental Health assessment.

District staff are providing patients with County Mental Health Resources through contact information specific to the Contra Costa Crisis Center, Seneca Mobile Response Team, and A3. The three separate resources support a common goal of aiding the patient through varying mechanisms of behavioral health management.

Behavioral Health Response Program Press Release.pdf

Behavioral Health Response Program Process.pdf

Behavioral Health Response Program FAQ.pdf

Contra Costa County Behavioral Health Community Resources

Contra Costa Crisis Center