News Photo by Mike Gonzalez On Tuesday morning, Incident Management Team Inc. CEO Dr. Ken Wolf speaks with emergency responders for crisis intervention training at the Alpena Public Safety Facility.
ALPENA — Emergency personnel from various northeastern Michigan counties gathered Tuesday for crisis intervention training. The eight-hour session will teach people how to appropriately respond to people facing mental health issues in hopes of de-escalating the situation and increasing the safety of people in crisis and responders. Taught first responders.
Service workers ranged from Alcona County sheriff’s deputies and emergency dispatchers to members of the Alpena Juvenile Court.
The training program, which received a four-year, $125,000 Mental Health and Awareness Training Project grant and was covered by nonprofit Partners in Prevention, was funded by Ken Ken, CEO of Incident Management Team Inc. in West Bloomfield. Led by Dr. Wolf.
Wolf was also a police psychology consultant for the Detroit Police Department and the Michigan Police Officers Association.
“First, we’ll talk about the Memphis Model, which is the model that all crisis intervention training programs are based on,” Wolf said. “In Memphis, police responded to the scene of someone acting aggressive and shot and killed him, but lost a major lawsuit. Memphis city officials then began training officers to manage these situations. “So we came up with a 40-hour curriculum that we cut down to eight hours to teach emergency responders what they need to know in the event of an escape.”
Mr. Wolf distributed a document to participants with information on how to defuse hostile situations towards those suffering from a mental health crisis.
One document lists how to assess the scene and situation, how to communicate with the individual with the problem, and how to handle the situation.
“When you go to a scene, the first thing you want to check is if there’s a weapon,” Wolf said. “The next thing to ask is whether there is a threat of murder or suicide, and whether the subject poses a danger to yourself, those around you, and yourself. If not, slow down, It’s better to change your tactics and take your time. Let the person know that they are safe and keep your distance to give them a chance to react and stabilize themselves.”
During the training session, participants went through various de-escalation scenarios and heard about their own experiences with mental health crises and how first responders responded in those situations.
CIT training began on March 5th with two other full-day sessions on March 7th and April 2nd.
A $125,000 grant awarded to Partners in Prevention will allow the group to launch a Mental Health First Aid program on March 20 where adults can learn more about mental health, as well as more workshops and training sessions. You can also host other mental health programs, such as:
Prevention partners can also create a mental health resource website with help from Alpena Emergency Medical Services and Fire, Alpena Police Department, Alcona Health Center, MyMichigan Health, and others.
“Just being able to talk about your mental health is helpful and healing,” said Mary Schalk, program director at Partners in Prevention. “There are many things each of us can do as individuals to take better care of ourselves and to be more caring, listening, and supportive of each other.”
If you are feeling suicidal or need someone to talk to, you can call or text the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988.
