Michigan law enforcement participates in mental health crisis training - UpNorthLive.com
OTSEGO COUNTY, Mich., (WPBN/WGTU) -- Helping first responders deescalate a mental health crisis is the focus of a training program in Otsego County.
Law enforcement from four counties are taking part.
Nineteen northern Michigan law enforcement officers and first responders are taking part in the Behavioral Health Emergency Partnership Training.
“We do a high-intensity stress, inoculation, scenario-based training scenarios that are designed to be 70% to 80% cognitive reality, meaning very, very realistic to the types of events that our first responders are likely to respond to, when they're out in the field,” Chief Learning Officer Eric Waddell said.
Officers said the scenarios are realistic, which will help them in a real-life situation.
“It gets the adrenaline go and it gets everybody thinking and we can also go back and debrief those situations and see how we could have improved or what things we did well,” Emmet County Sheriff’s Office Corporal Cole Brady said.
“Often we're called out to situations like this and this training allows us to incorporate things into our toolbox to better approach these situations,” Otsego County EMS Deputy Chief Gavin Babieracki said.
And there’s a deeper meaning behind this training program.
“If you can't love yourself, then you can't really go out there and love somebody else. So I'm just trying to raise that bar. Like, let's spread a little bit more,” Executive Director and Author of Broken Like Me Joseph Reid said. “I know it seems like a cliche love, but that's really the basis of what police work is. It's loving the community. It's serving the community and we can do a lot better when we're when we're loving the people. We're around.”
Waddell said 1 in 5 people manage a mental health issue or have a close loved one that manages one.
The training program costs $12,000 and is paid for by the Michigan Commission of Law Enforcement Standards and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.
To learn more about North Country Community Mental Health visit www.norcocmh.org or to access services call 877-470-7130.
source: https://upnorthlive.com/news/local/michigan-law-enforcement-participates-in-mental-health-crisis-training
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