When a desperate father couldn’t calm his adult son during a severe mental health crisis, Albuquerque’s alternative emergency response team stepped in where traditional police might have struggled, successfully connecting the man to voluntary treatment within an hour.
Behavioral Health Responders from the Albuquerque Community Safety (ACS) Department responded to the 911 call and found a 40-year-old man pacing, sweating and attempting to self-soothe through exercise in his family home. The man was experiencing what responders recognized as a significant mental health episode.
Through patient dialogue, ACS responders learned the man had recently lost his job, ended a relationship, stopped taking prescribed medications and hadn’t had a mental health evaluation in over a year. One responder was able to build crucial trust by connecting over a shared work experience…