Abstract
Introduction: First responders are increasingly called to assist people experiencing mental health crises but little research exists canvassing multi-agency perspectives of such work.Aim/Question: To understand the views of police officers, ambulance and mental health staff attending mental health or suicide-related crises in Aotearoa New Zealand and to discover how they experience current models of cross-agency collaboration.Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional survey involving mixed methods. Quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics and free text by content analysis.Results: Participants included 57 police officers, 29 paramedics and 33 mental health professionals. Mental health staff felt adequately trained, but only 36% described good processes for accessing inter-agency support. Police and ambulance staff felt undertrained and unprepared. Accessing mental health expertise was considered difficult by 89% of police and 62% of ambulance staff.Discussion: Frontline services struggle managing mental health-related 911 emergencies. Current models are not working well. Miscommunication, dissatisfaction and distrust exist between police, ambulance and mental health services.Conclusion: The single-agency frontline response may be detrimental to service users in crisis and under-utilizes the skills of mental health staff. New ways of inter-agency cooperation are required, such as co-located police, ambulance and mental health nurses responding in partnership.