TULSA, Okla. — The Tulsa Fire Department launched a new program aimed at improving the mental health response and resources of Tulsans.
It’s called the Alternative Response Team and it kicked off on Monday. It all stems from the success of the Community Response Team or CRT, which aims at reducing transport needs for those experiencing a mental health crisis.
TFD operates in conjunction with the Tulsa Police Department and Family and Children’s Services to staff the CRT team. It looks to meet the needs of community members in their homes for treatment rather than transporting them somewhere else.
A TFD spokesperson said the program has been so successful the department felt the need to find resources to extend its operations by filling the gaps outside of the typical Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. hours.
That’s where the Alternative Response Team, or ART, comes in.
The unit provides increased coverage during the busiest emergency response times and extends to later in the evening.
“The partnership between Family & Children’s Services COPES clinician and the Tulsa Fire Department expands the co-responder models offered to Tulsa through the creation of the Alternative Response Team,” Amanda Bradley, Family and Children Services Associate Chief Program Officer of COPES, said. “This team will be instrumental in serving callers to the 911 system in crisis who can be best served through a medical and mental health assessment. The development of this team is another way we are working to provide the right level of car at the right time.”
ART responds to psychological or abnormal behavior, suicide, overdose, person down, and high utilizers of the 911 system. If someone is suffering from a mental health crisis, the unit can help them and get them care.
The unit consists of a TFD paramedic and a clinician from Family and Children’s Services.
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