During the week of December 12, Acadia hosted Crisis Intervention Training (CIT) for area police EMS and jail corrections personnel from all over Penobscot County. This training was led by a consortium of criminal justice and mental health professionals as well as the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill in Maine (NAMI – Maine). In the forty hours of training, officers learned the basics of mental illness and substance abuse; de-escalation skills, and first hand accounts from consumers and families on how law enforcement and corrections personnel can be helpful in a crisis situation. The officers also visited a number of sites in the community that help people with behavioral health issues including mental health agencies, shelters, psychiatric hospitals and emergency departments. Consumers should be encouraged that, if they need help from law enforcement or corrections personnel, they can ask for a CIT officer.
The following Acadia staff contributed to this learning experience:
· Dr. Eric Kuntz – Presentation on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
· Rick Redmond – Presentation on Suicide Prevention
· Brent Scobie – Presentation on Substance Abuse Disorders and Treatment
· Denise Noll – Participation in panel discussion on behavioral health resources
· Dan Johnson and Wendy Hughes – Tours of Acadia Inpatient and Observation Units for officers |
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