April 11, 2022 at 12:16 p.m.
Nicolet students respond to simulated mental health crisis in 'real-world scenario training'
Nicolet students respond to simulated mental health crisis in 'real-world scenario training'
Area mental health care professionals assisted with the staged emergency, guiding the students through the skills and tasks they would need to perform in a real emergency.
Wednesday's real-world scenario training involved a "suicidal" individual.
Officers from the fictional "Nicolet Police Department" encounter a man sitting at a table outdoors in a park. He tells them he has taken an entire bottle of his anti-depression medication and consumed alcohol. They learn the man had recently lost his job and a week ago received an eviction notice and admitted trying to kill himself.
The criminal justice students had to assess the situation, keep the subject calm, and find out if he had any weapons while gathering as much information as possible to give to the EMT and nursing students.
An ambulance crew of EMT students arrived, assessed the man's medical condition and placed him on a gurney for transport to the "Nicolet Hospital" emergency room inside the college's Lakeside Center.
Once there, Amy Kuebler, a family nurse practitioner and adjunct instructor at Nicolet, demonstrated how she would work to make a connection and gain the trust of someone in crisis.
After assessing the man's medical condition, Kuebler gave orders for the students to start an I.V. and run tests on blood and urine samples. One student volunteer actually started the I.V., getting the needle into the man's vein on the first try.
"That's not as easy as it looks when you have over 200 eyes watching you," noted nursing instructor Dilya St. Louis.
The simulation was observed by approximately 100 people, including other Nicolet students and local high school students interested in health careers.
Kuebler "checked" the lab results and explained for the audience how a large amount of medicine and alcohol would affect various organs, and what symptoms to watch for in the patient.
Once the man was declared medically stable, substance use disorder counseling (formerly AODA) and human services students were called in to create a treatment plan for the patient and start case management.
Mental health screeners Jessica Hawkins and Kelsey Harfert, from Human Service Center of Forest, Oneida and Vilas counties, asked the "patient" many questions they would ask in a real crisis situation.
Because of the answers the man offered, Harfert explained to the group that for his own protection the patient must be placed on a 72-hour mental health hold under state statute 51.15. She then consulted with the student police officers who had been involved with the initial response.
Throughout the exercise, it was emphasized that there is a shortage of mental health professionals and treatment facilities in the Northwoods, causing a strain on local law enforcement.
The protocol is for two law enforcement officers to transport an individual in need of care and they often have to travel two or three hours away for a place that will take them.
Not only does this tie up two officers or deputies for hours, often causing overtime and staffing shortages, it also means the individual in crisis is two or three hours from their family and friends, leading to feelings of isolation.
This involuntary commitment requires the order of a judge, which necessitates a hearing. The law enforcement officers and medical professionals who interacted with the individual often have to testify at the hearings, Harfert said.
The event was co-hosted by Nicolet and its Wisconsin Northern Highland Area Health Education Center (NHAHEC). The Northern Highland AHEC NHAHEC works in Florence, Forest, Langlade, Lincoln, Marinette, Menominee, Oconto, Oneida, Price, Shawano and Vilas counties to improve access to quality health care. According to its website, it does this by "developing community-based health professions training programs and enhancing health education resources across the state."
Of the 11 counties in the NHAEHC, the U.S. Health Resources & Services Administration has designated eight of them Dental Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSA), nine as Primary Care HPSAs and 10 as Mental Health HPSAs.
A HRSA website says "HPSAs are designated by HRSA as having shortages of primary medical care, dental or mental health providers and may be geographic (a county or service area), population (e.g. low income or Medicaid eligible) or facilities (e.g. federally qualified health center or other state or federal prisons).
The federal government works to improve access to medical resources in these shortage areas.
Northern Highland AHEC seeks to get students into programs locally in hopes they will stay in the area.
For more information on the programs through Northern Highland AHEC, go to their website at wnhahec.org.
Jamie Taylor may be reached via email at [email protected].
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