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Published Online: 10 January 2025

Demographic and Clinical Characteristics of Mental Health Crisis Line Callers Who Were Transferred to 911

Matthew L. Goldman, M.D., M.S. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2252-9285, Andrea Elser, B.A., Hsueh-Han Yeh, Ph.D. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4564-6385, Megan McDaniel, B.A., Lisiyu Ma, M.S., Brian K. Ahmedani, Ph.D., M.S.W., and Ashley A. Foster, M.D. [email protected]Authors Info & Affiliations
Publication: Psychiatric Services
In Advance
https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ps.20240050
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Abstract

Objective:

This study aimed to describe the characteristics of callers to a statewide mental health crisis line who were transferred to 911 (active rescue).

Methods:

This retrospective cohort study examined mental health crisis line calls transferred to active rescue (N=3,538 calls; N=3,132 unique callers) from the Georgia Crisis and Access Line (2016–2018). Chi-square analyses and t tests were used to examine descriptive differences between caller characteristics and call features.

Results:

Of crisis line callers with a contact that resulted in active rescue, 53% were male, and 53% were Black. Youth callers represented 11% of all rescue calls; 74% of these callers had Medicaid. Active rescue most frequently occurred because of a danger to oneself (58%). Reasons for active rescue differed by race (p<0.001).

Conclusions:

Most crisis calls resulting in active rescue occurred because of concern about self-harm. Demographic differences by reason for active rescue reveal gaps in the understanding of crisis care delivery.

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Information & Authors

Information

Published In

Go to Psychiatric Services
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Psychiatric Services
In Advance

History

Received: 30 January 2024
Revision received: 20 May 2024
Revision received: 8 October 2024
Accepted: 7 November 2024
Published online: 10 January 2025

Keywords

  1. crisis intervention
  2. suicide and self-harming behavior
  3. emergency psychiatry
  4. hotline
  5. suicide prevention

Authors

Details

Matthew L. Goldman, M.D., M.S. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2252-9285
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle (Goldman); Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles (Elser); Center for Health Policy and Health Services Research, Henry Ford Health, Detroit (Yeh, Ma, Ahmedani); Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin, Madison (McDaniel); Department of Emergency Medicine, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco (Foster).
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Andrea Elser, B.A.
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle (Goldman); Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles (Elser); Center for Health Policy and Health Services Research, Henry Ford Health, Detroit (Yeh, Ma, Ahmedani); Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin, Madison (McDaniel); Department of Emergency Medicine, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco (Foster).
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Hsueh-Han Yeh, Ph.D. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4564-6385
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle (Goldman); Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles (Elser); Center for Health Policy and Health Services Research, Henry Ford Health, Detroit (Yeh, Ma, Ahmedani); Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin, Madison (McDaniel); Department of Emergency Medicine, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco (Foster).
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Megan McDaniel, B.A.
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle (Goldman); Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles (Elser); Center for Health Policy and Health Services Research, Henry Ford Health, Detroit (Yeh, Ma, Ahmedani); Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin, Madison (McDaniel); Department of Emergency Medicine, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco (Foster).
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Lisiyu Ma, M.S.
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle (Goldman); Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles (Elser); Center for Health Policy and Health Services Research, Henry Ford Health, Detroit (Yeh, Ma, Ahmedani); Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin, Madison (McDaniel); Department of Emergency Medicine, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco (Foster).
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Brian K. Ahmedani, Ph.D., M.S.W.
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle (Goldman); Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles (Elser); Center for Health Policy and Health Services Research, Henry Ford Health, Detroit (Yeh, Ma, Ahmedani); Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin, Madison (McDaniel); Department of Emergency Medicine, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco (Foster).
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Ashley A. Foster, M.D. [email protected]
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle (Goldman); Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles (Elser); Center for Health Policy and Health Services Research, Henry Ford Health, Detroit (Yeh, Ma, Ahmedani); Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin, Madison (McDaniel); Department of Emergency Medicine, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco (Foster).
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Notes

Send correspondence to Dr. Foster ([email protected]).
This study was presented in part at the Suicide Research Symposium (virtual), April 17, 2024.

Competing Interests

Dr. Foster reports receiving research funding for a different study from Abbott Laboratories. The other authors report no financial relationships with commercial interests.

Funding Information

This work was funded by grants from the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (YIG-0-070-019) and NIMH (R03MH130798).

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