You may have heard of the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, a national hotline that supplies callers with free support....CONTINUE.THE.FULL.READING OF THE ARTICLE>>>
Now, we’re hearing how North Dakota is adjusting to this new hotline.
KX News traveled to southwest North Dakota, where law enforcement is implementing new crisis care technology.
Despite the importance of having a suicide and crisis lifeline in our state, behavioral health specialists have seen roadblocks — particularly in responding to calls in rural areas.
“That [988] program will dispatch to a human service center to provide mobile crisis,” shared Jessica Odermann, the regional director of the Badlands Human Service Center in Dickinson. “To date, our limitations have been that we’re unable to respond vastly throughout the region.”
Now, our behavioral health crisis services are seeing a nearly $2 million boost, thanks to Senate Bill 2012 — which was passed in the last legislative session.
Health and Human Services, along with law enforcement throughout the state, are now partners with an organization called Avel eCare.
“We have been referring to it as another crisis care tool for the toolbox,” explained Odermann.
This partnership equips law enforcement responding to crisis calls with virtual, professional care.
“For example, a law enforcement officer who might experience a call out in a rural area could connect to those professionals through the iPad, kind of like Facetime essentially, and provide that crisis care right on the spot, rather than having to try and transport to an emergency department immediately,” added Odermann.
Unless there’s a safety concern, law enforcement will give the iPad to the individual and step back — allowing them to have a confidential conversation with the provider.
With Avel’s use in other states such as South Dakota, 80% of crisis calls have been de-escalated without further emergency services required.
“That’s really exciting information because it’s beneficial to the individual or the family that’s experiencing the crisis, but also to the law enforcement provider not having to drive outside of their county to a hospital setting if they’re able to manage that on-site,” shared Odermann.
Law enforcement says they’ll be able to bring an even greater level of care to the people they’re responding to.
“None of the sheriff’s department staff, myself included, are mental health professionals,” explained Grant Geis, a deputy with the Billings County Sheriff’s Department in Medora. “Having the ability to reach out to somebody that’s going to help the person that we’re in contact with, and give them a lot better information, and give us a lot better information to put them in a safe place and feel comfortable is going to be a tool that’s definitely worthwhile.”
In the west central region of North Dakota, 988 was called nearly 3,000 times in 2023. Of those calls, nearly 2,000 needed mobile crisis services.
The Avel eCare will be implemented throughout the rest of North Dakota in the next few months.
