|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
The San Ramon fire district and police department announced the start of a new behavioral health response program that has been in the works since 2021 and will see firefighters with the district — rather than law enforcement — respond to most mental health calls in the same timeframe as other medical emergencies in San Ramon.
SRVFPD and SRPD officials began formulating plans for the behavioral health Fire First Response program in 2021 amid national and local reflection on existing practices for behavioral health incidents in which police have been and continue to generally be first responders. The program was fully implemented and in effect as of last Monday (Oct. 2) according to an SRVFPD announcement last week.
“Given the increase in mental health calls and the strain on the EMS system it was important to develop a proactive solution that addressed the needs of the individual patients as well as the needs of the community,” said SRVFPD Fire Chief Paige Meyer in the Oct. 5 announcement.
The Fire First Response program is the third and final stage of the overhaul to mental health responses in San Ramon, coming on the heels of the first phase, which consisted of organizational mapping and mental health specialist training emphasizing de-escalation tactics that was provided to more than 200 staff members with the fire district and the San Ramon Police Department.
The second implementation phase consisted of transferring 911 calls that do not involve threats to lives or overall public safety to the Contra Costa Crisis Center, which is the county’s 988 crisis hotline provider since last year, following the activation of 988 crisis lines nationwide and the passage of state Assembly Bill 988 – also known as the Miles Hall Lifeline and Suicide Prevention Act, authored by local Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan (D-Orinda).
“I want to thank the San Ramon Valley Fire Protection District and the San Ramon Police Department for their critical leadership in mental health response,” Bauer-Kahan said in the announcement.
“This program will save lives and our community is lucky to have local first responders who are collaborating to treat the mental health crisis as the health care crisis it is. I am proud to have sponsored the legislation that will fund this type of work in the future, and grateful we are already seeing this bold change in action here in our community,” she added.
Preparation for the full implementation of the program also included training with crisis actors via the Contra Costa branch of the National Alliance for Mental Illness (NAMI).
“If every Fire District in our county and beyond followed the lead of San Ramon, individuals and their families who are impacted by mental illness would sleep easier,” said GiGi Crowder, executive director for NAMI Contra Costa. “San Ramon clearly understands the importance of treating those experiencing a mental health emergency with medical care and not criminalizing them. San Ramon’s Fire District is setting the tone for the future with this more progressive approach that meets people where they are at.”
Under the Fire First Response program, SRVFPD firefighters will be the first on the scene to respond to behavioral health crises — within seven minutes — with SRPD personnel standing by as secondary responders.
“Supporting and collaborating with the San Ramon Valley Fire Protection District on this Behavioral Health Fire First Response Program has been outstanding,” SRPD Chief Denton Carlson said. “We are incredibly excited to see this program come to fruition because of the level of care San Ramon Valley Fire Protection District personnel will provide to the community members we are dedicated to serving.”
