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January 23

Dealing with mental health issues focus

March seminar seeks to aid first responders deal with those with mental illnesses.

By Ed Lewis elewis@timesleader.com
Times Leader Staff Writer
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WILKES-BARRE – Emergency first responders have an opportunity to receive training to help them deal with mental health patients, with the ultimate goal of forming a Crisis Intervention Team in Luzerne County.

A seminar scheduled for March 21 is designed to teach police officers, firefighters, paramedics and 911 call-takers and dispatchers how to differentiate a mental illness patient from a person under the influence of a controlled substance.

Kelly Petherick, crisis intervention specialist with Community Counseling Services, said police officers spend an enormous amount of time responding to calls and investigating complaints. If an officer can recognize a combative person is suffering from a mental illness, Petherick said, a great deal of time and money can be saved.

“Our hope is to improve the communication when police have to interact with a mental health client,” Petherick said. “It can save time in the legal system and seek out treatment for the client.”

“Statistics show one in five people suffer mental illness,” said James Davis, mental program specialist with Luzerne-Wyoming Counties Mental Health Program. He said people suffering from mental illnesses are not likely to be aggressive against another person; they are more apt to harm themselves.

“People who suffer mental illness are generally not assaultive,” Davis said. “It’s only when they stop taking their medication. Our goal is to educate police on verbally de-escalating the situation.”

James Kolojejchick, program coordinator for the Luzerne County Criminal Justice Advisory Board, said a police officer trained in recognizing mental illness has a greater chance of ending an emergency situation without using force.

“Verbal de-escalating is another tool for police to calm a situation involving a patient with mental illness,” Kolojejchick said. “The training is to teach how to deal with mentally ill clients with the hopeful outcome that the situation won’t escalate.”

Paul Radzavicz, executive director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness Pennsylvania, said a Crisis Intervention Team was formed in Scranton in 2009.

Davis said he hopes there is enough interest among first responders to form a CIT in Luzerne County. He is estimating 300 first responders will attend the seminar.

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