Ambulance crews in Cairns launch mental health service

Mental health emergencies can be treated at home thanks to a new service launched by Queensland Ambulance and the Department of Health.

MENTAL health emergencies can be treated at home thanks to a new service launched by Queensland Ambulance and the Department of Health.

The co-responder program, which has teamed paramedics with mental health clinicians from the Cairns and Hospital Hinterland Health Service, will respond to mental health triple-0 calls.

“The aim is to provide an assessment of the mental health crisis without lengthy interventions in the emergency department,” QAS program director Sandra Garner said.

Between March 2020 and March 2021, QAS in the Cairns region responded to 4396 triple-0 calls for people in a mental health crisis and over the last year Cairns paramedics experienced a 28 per cent rise in call outs for mental health related jobs.

Ms Garner said the program’s 2019 pilot in south east Queensland had great success in providing positive mental health outcomes prior to its rollout in Cairns, Townsville and the Sunshine Coast.

Advanced care paramedic Craig Hill has teamed up with Queensland Health clinical psychologist Kirin Brown to provide mental health care outside of the hospital setting. Picture: Brendan Radke

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Three mental health clinicians, either a clinical psychologist or a clinical nurse consultant, will staff the service with paramedics.

The co-responders have received two days of intensive training be ready for life alongside paramedics.

“Sometimes the emergency department is not the most appropriate place for people experiencing a mental health crisis,” Ms Garner said.

“There are a lot of stimuli and it can carry a stigma.”

Patients calling triple-0 are asked questions about their state of mind that would identify a mental health concern.

“Clinicians play an important role as to how a patient can recover,” Ms Garner said.

She said the pilot program resulted in a 65 per cent drop in cases that would have otherwise arrived in the emergency department.

“Our clinicians were conducting the same type of assessment they would have carried out in the ED, but in a person’s home,” Ms Garner said.

Two thirds of mental health-related arrivals at Cairns Hospital ended up back at home after a lengthy and often distressing stay.

Before his first call out on Wednesday, newly appointed co-responder, clinical psychiatrist Kirin Brown said the service would enable patients to be treated in a familiar setting.

“I think it will be more comfortable for people to have an assessment in their own environment,” he said.

“If we can provide them with an alternate pathway that doesn’t involve the hospital then that is a win.”

The crews will be allocated their own vehicles that can then respond to jobs as required.

Originally published as Ambulance crews in Cairns launch mental health service