Prehospital Behavioral Emergencies and Crisis Response
Abstract
PREHOSPITAL BEHAVIORAL EMERGENCIES AND CRISIS RESPONSE BY DWIGHT A. POLK, MSW, NREMT-P AND JEFFREY T. MITCHELL, PHD, CTS Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers, 2009, 295 pages (softcover) Historically, behavioral issues in emergency medical services (EMS) have not received the same attention as trauma- and cardiac-related training. Unfortunately, most of us involved in EMS have been left to conjure up ideas of how to best care for inebriated, drugged, violent, or depressed patients who require transfer to an emergency department for âdetoxiï¬cationâ or workup of altered mental status, or transport to a mental health facility. Many of us in emergency care dread these complaints. This tome puts behavioral disorders in the important light they deserve; that is to say, it is incumbent on the EMS provider to recognize and treat these disorders from a crisis intervention knowledge base, and to understand how to deploy crisis intervention skills. Kudos to the authors for producing a work that places a higher priority on these issues. This 295-page book is not simply devoted to potential behavioral emergencies that EMS personnel might encounter; it also assists the EMS provider in caring for himself or herself or his or her companions. The book