How many calls on average do you usually have that result in the mobile crisis team coming out to intervene in the community?

We're honestly seeing an increase. Even just in the year and a half that I've been around, we're seeing those calls go up and that's not a bad thing. That means that people are reaching out when they need the help and that's good. Average, I would say would be 80 to 90. I know last month we had 116 calls, so it was a busy month last month, but we're here, no matter what those volumes are, to help.

Hello and welcome. I'm your host, Bill Emeiser, and you're listening to Mental Health U, the podcast dedicated to demystifying and destigmatizing mental health issues. So if you or someone you know is struggling with depression, anxiety, trauma or some other mental health issue, then this podcast is for you. This episode is proudly sponsored by Unison Health, dedicated to making lives better through compassionate, quality mental health and addiction treatment services. Learn more at unisonhealthorg. Hello everyone, you are in for a big treat. Today we have Mandy Sattler, who leads the mobile crisis team in Wood County. Mandy combines extensive expertise from the fields of physical and mental health. In her management role, she is instrumental in overseeing critical mental health responses within our community.

Hi Bill, thanks for having me today.

Absolutely. Could you start by telling us a little bit about your professional experience and how you came to start working in crisis?

Yes, I'm a registered nurse. I have been for the last 17 years and my background is predominantly in the hospital setting. In the last few years, particularly when COVID hit, I noticed that the mental health needs of both professionals and the clients were not always being addressed. I went back to school and, fortunately, shortly after I found the crisis stabilization unit and the mobile crisis team, and I've been on board for about a year and a half now.

Fantastic, you're here to talk to us about the mobile crisis team today. What is a mobile crisis team?

So we are the team that gets called out when someone is experiencing a mental health crisis. So here in Wood County we operate the crisis line or hope line you may hear it called and people can call that when they're struggling and our team will go out to them in multiple locations and meet them right where they're at and help them get connected to the help that they need.

So it's a 24-hour program, 365 days a year.

There's always somebody there with the phone.

And your crisis team. Who makes that team up? What are the requirements to be on that team?

So our team consists of social workers and counselors that are licensed with the state of Ohio and able to go out and make those assessments.

So these are licensed counselors or social workers. Do they get any additional training to go along with that to be on the mobile crisis team? Do?

they get any additional training to go along with that? To be on the mobile crisis team?

Yes, so our staff are specifically trained to be able to respond to crisis situations and offer the support needed. Is there any special certification that's required to do this kind of job?

So every one of our members of the mobile crisis team are something called health officers here in Wood County. They've gone through special certification to be able to assess each client and determine what the appropriate level of care or treatment is for them.

And that kind of leads me to what constitutes mental health crisis.

I think something I want to make sure that's understood is it's individual to the person. So a crisis is based on each person's perception and the tools in their toolkit to be able to manage that situation, and so there's no crisis too big or too small to call us out for. So anytime you're feeling that the situation at hand is maybe more than you're able to cope with would be a time to reach out to us.

How would somebody actually reach out and get the mobile crisis team to engage with them?

Yes, so for folks in the community, you can call the Hope Line. Also, in addition to our mobile crisis services, we have the crisis stabilization unit, so you can always walk in directly there and meet with a member of our team there as well.

And you guys work a lot with other entities in the community. I know that you work with the Wood County Hospital. You work with various police departments. Do they have a way of accessing the mobile crisis? Can they determine that somebody needs to come out and help somebody? Or maybe somebody's not aware that they're experiencing a mental health crisis? Can they activate you guys?

absolutely so. We're really well connected with our community partners police, hospitals, other mental health agencies or community services. They all have numbers directly to the mobile crisis line and can call and let us know what's going on and send us out to the various locations. People's homes we'll go. We've screened people in the walmart parking lot. We've screened people in the cornfield. We've screened people at the hospital, the, the jail, you name it. If there's a need, we'll find a way to get there, as long as it's safe for us.

What's the typical response time? If, once the team gets activated, how long does it usually take for somebody to come out?

Wood County has a range of places, both rural and then more populated. Our goal is always to be there within a half hour and no longer than an hour.

Wow, yeah, wood County is a huge county. There's a lot of area to cover. It could take 45 minutes from the north end down to the south end, especially if you're on the back roads. If you can hit 75, you might be able to do it in 30 minutes.

A wide range for sure.

Absolutely. Now, if I were accessing the mobile crisis team, does that mean that I have to be? We talked a little bit about what constitutes a crisis, but I'm circling back around. But does that mean I have to be suicidal or homicidal?

It definitely is a portion of the calls that we get, but if you're in crisis and just not sure what steps to take, calling that number will be able to help you get where you need to go. When you call the line, you're initially going to get a trained individual that's going to ask you some questions and they'll be able to tell at that point can we connect you with services, should you come into the CSU or do we need to send someone out to you? So there's no wrong answer to call us. We'll just make sure, based on what's going on, we act appropriately.

Mental Health? U is brought to you by Unison Health. Unison Health making lives better. So it could be. I can call that crisis line. If I'm stressed out, I'm feeling anxious, I can call them, and that may or may not necessarily activate the mobile crisis team.

Correct. Something that we do, too, is, if you call that line, we'll likely follow up with you as well.

What does that look like?

Every day we have a team of part of our mobile crisis team that will go through our logs and if there's anybody that was having a hard time and said that they wanted to call back and could benefit from some of our services, we'll make those calls.

So if they call and they would like a phone call back, does that cost them anything to receive that check-in or that connection to other resources?

Nope, the crisis line is completely free. You can make those calls and cost does not have to be a concern.

I assume that's because it's funded by the Wood County Mental Health Board and the taxpayers of Wood County.

Yes, we are so grateful for the support to be able to offer this service to our community.

So a mobile crisis team comes out, I call and it's determined that the mobile crisis team needs to come out and see me and they do an assessment. What are some of the potential outcomes that could happen because of my involvement or my interaction with the mobile crisis team?

There are three main outcomes that can happen when somebody comes out, the first being say you're just having a hard time, want to talk to someone and get connected with services, so we do something called a safety plan, and that means that we will sit down with the individual and go through what are your supports that you currently have in place, what are we going to do to keep you safe and what can you do if you start to feel like you're struggling again? And we make a plan and then after that we would follow up with you. At that point we would send you home with that plan. We often involve a friend or family member in that plan so that you have that extra support, so that if you are struggling, you have somebody else that can say hey, remember that person that reached out to you.

Sometimes, when we're in a crisis, we aren't able to start those steps for ourselves, so we need help. That was option one. Steps for ourselves, so we need help. That was option one. Option two has got that middle like I'm struggling or maybe I am suicidal, but we're able to do things to get rid of that risk, to take away those means, that sort of thing. We have the crisis stabilization unit and that even can be for somebody who's just feeling a little depressed, maybe needs a medication change or has gone through a big life event. In those cases we can recommend the CSU. It's a voluntary treatment, so that would require the individual being willing to come in and spend some time with us.

But that's the second option, the middle ground option, which I would say a lot of folks fall into, that Even for just a short stay or a med change, something like that, they really benefit. So the third option is hospitalization, so inpatient psychiatric hospitalization. It can be voluntary or sometimes it's involuntary. Like we mentioned earlier, our team's main objective is to keep people safe and keep people alive and well, and sometimes we have to take those steps to recommend hospitalization for someone who's really having a hard time. We're always looking for the least restrictive, appropriate treatment for that person. So I think there is a little bit of a stigma that if we come out we're automatically going to be sending you to the hospital. But there are a lot of options.

Yeah, and of those three options, I don't know if you have an idea. I know you guys keep statistics. I'm not asking you to be 100% precise on this but an approximation of those three options. When the mobile crisis team is involved, what's the kind of the proportion, percentage wise of folks who maybe crisis plan at home versus come to the CSU versus get hospitalized?

This is definitely just off the top of my head, based on the things that come across my desk, but it's more common to be safety planned or go to the CSU would be what we see the most, and then it varies, but there are folks that do end up hospitalized as well.

The majority of people that we see we can connect to services. Do you have a guesstimate of what the average and I know it ebbs and flows based on, sometimes the season of the year or the weather, but how many calls on average do you usually have that result in the mobile crisis team coming out to intervene in the community?

We're honestly seeing an increase. Even just in the year and a half that I've been around, we're seeing those calls go up and that's not a bad thing. That means that people are reaching out when they need the help and that's good. Average, I would say would be 80 to 90. I know last month we had 116 calls, so it was a busy month last month, but we're here, no matter what those volumes are, to help.

So some of the national statistics show that mental health crisis and I'm thinking specific of a specific type of mental health crisis and that would be suicidal ideation. And we see an increase in attempts and completed suicides in the spring and in the summer. Do you see an increase? You mentioned already last month that there was an increase. Do your calls and the involvement of the mobile crisis team mirror those statistics?

Yeah, so I'm still getting acquainted with those ebbs and flows with things In a college town. We also see increases based on when that population comes in and out. May was extremely busy.

Do you find that with the university, it's like when people are moving in, when people are moving out, maybe around exam times.

We definitely notice after the move-in and folks getting settled. Maybe their first time away from home will have an increase, and then around exam time too, if someone was in need of the mobile crisis team.

I know you've already mentioned a couple of ways that folks could, but could you reiterate that and maybe give those numbers again?

Yes. So if you are needing some help here in Wood County and you would like to use our HOPE line, it is 419-502-4673. Easy way to remember it 419-502-HOPE. Also, if you are associated with a community agency here in Wood County, they're going to have our numbers and can call us directly. And then also, don't forget, you can always walk into the CSU. We're located at 209 West Poe Road in Bowling Green and anyone's welcome to walk in, night or day.

And I think we'd be remiss if we didn't say if folks are interested in learning more about the mobile crisis team or the crisis line, you can go to unisonhealthorg. So, Mandy, thank you so much for being on the show Again. I know you're becoming a frequent flyer on our program, which we appreciate you coming and sharing your information with us.

Absolutely.

This podcast has been brought to you by Unison Health. Unison Health is a nonprofit mental health agency dedicated to serving the Northwest Ohio community for the past 50 years.

Wood County Mobile Crisis number is (419) 502-4673 for the residents of Wood County, Ohio.

For mental health crisis outside of the county call 911 or text 988.