The Riverside Fire Authority (RFA) and Cascade Community Healthcare are initiating a pilot project to provide immediate mental health care to people experiencing mental health crises, RFA announced Friday.
“The project will allow RFA emergency medical responders to use state-approved criteria to assess patients who appear to be in crisis. These patients may be transported directly to Cascade Community Healthcare’s Evaluation and Treatment Center in Centralia for care,” RFA said in a news release.
“This alternative transport protocol falls under the scope of our Community Assistance Referral and Education Services (CARES) program that we have been working toward bringing to fruition,” said RFA Lt. Jason Shepherd, project manager.
Currently, all 911 response patients transported by ambulance are taken to the hospital emergency department where they may later be taken to Cascade for specialty care.
“The pilot project will reduce time and streamline care for the patients by taking them to Cascade first,” RFA said in a news release.
“Our primary goal is to get patients experiencing a mental health crisis to the most appropriate care in the least amount of time,” Shepherd said. “Patients will benefit by going directly to a facility specializing in taking care of their needs.”
According to Cascade Chief of Inpatient Services Mindy Greenwood, patients brought to Cascade “enter a calming environment where they receive a nurse assessment, followed by mental health and psychological evaluations by mental health professionals.”
They can also do immediate lab work in-house, according to the news release.
“Our first goal is to get them out of their immediate crisis,” Greenwood said.
Patients receive three nutritious meals a day, showers, a bed, individual and group therapy, and medication therapy in a homelike setting.
“They are surrounded by kindness and human compassion, which are both critical to their recovery,” Greenwood said.
Patients generally stay at Cascade for three to five days.
“While the patients are here, we develop a stabilization plan and connect them to the resources they need to stay stable on their own,” Greenwood said.
Both RFA and Cascade report patient care numbers that they say show the potential this pilot project has to improve overall patient health, according to the news release.
In 2023, RFA responded to 59 people in mental health crisis involving suicidal ideations or suicide attempts. In the first half of 2024, RFA has already cared for 49 persons in mental health crisis including suicidal ideations or suicide attempts.
“This points to a potentially significant increase in calls for these services in 2024 over 2023,” RFA said in the release.
In addition, Greenwood said that in the first six months of 2024, Cascade has admitted 34 additional patients brought to them by law enforcement.
Shepherd said the pilot project is expected to begin in the fall once all RFA responders have been trained on the assessment criteria.
“The pilot will run for one year with the plan to hopefully continue indefinitely,” he said.
According to Shepherd, an anticipated long-term benefit of the pilot project will be to reduce the annual workload increases for first responders throughout Lewis County.
“If successful, the program may roll out to EMS responders countywide. With this level of care now available locally, we hope to see fewer people overall in crisis, and especially fewer people multiple times,” Shepherd said.
This alternative transport pilot project was made possible by a change in Washington state law. In 2015, the Washington state Legislature passed House Bill 1721, which allows patients in mental health or substance abuse crises to be transported to an authorized specialty facility.
“The RFA/Cascade pilot is possible under HB 1721 now that Cascade can provide such specialty services here in Lewis County,” RFA said in the release.
“Shepherd and Greenwood point to RFA’s and Cascade’s ongoing working relationship as proof the pilot project will launch smoothly,” RFA said in the release.
RFA has been working with Cascade since Cascade implemented its Lewis County Mobile Crisis Program, according to the news release.
“We had previously discussed this type of a project, and now they’re in a position to be able to accept EMS patients directly from the field,” Shepherd said.
RFA Chief Kevin Anderson said he anticipates multiple positive outcomes from this project.
“Our CARES program is designed to reduce the impact of high frequency system users by addressing the root causes of their reliance on the 911 system for access to primary care,” he said.
Anderson said he believes CARES will improve lives more effectively and at a lower cost than traditional 911 responses.
“When there are existing resources in our community that can directly serve the needs of certain segments of our population base, then we should be striving to use them to their fullest potential,” Anderson said. “If we can use innovative solutions to positive effect while lessening the burden on our local emergency resources, then that benefits everyone.”
