Abstract
Mental health crises are especially difficult to identify, and depending upon the presentation of the crisis, emergency medical services may not be first on scene. In these circumstances, a medical team may be unaware of suicidal ideations and therefore unable to discern a self-induced cause of injury until later in treatment. Delayed care of these patients may result in negative outcomes, including mortality. Disclosing chief complaints or de-identified incident information between first responders and implementing additional mental health training for law enforcement could improve communication between first responders and optimise patient care outcomes.
