Crisis Intervention, Emergency Services, and Psychiatric Intensive Care

Last update: 26 March 2012,
by Maureen Bell

Relevant journals to which library members have online access are listed below. You'll find them in the e-Journals A-Z list at the top right of this page.

Brief Treatment and Crisis Intervention
Crisis: The Journal of Crisis Intervention and Suicide Prevention - it's listed as Crisis (Toronto)
Journal of Psychiatric Intensive Care
Stress, Trauma, and Crisis

The library also subscribes to the International Journal of Emergency Mental Health. Unfortunately it is not available online at this stage, but you can browse contents and abstracts on PubMed.

If you're not a library member try the link below for access to free journal articles on this topic
Crisis Intervention
Free full text journal articles from PubMed Central.

Australian Links

Emergency Demand Management
Produced by the SA Health, this is a series of policy documents, and guidelines relating to the management of mental health emergencies.

High Dependency Unit Guidelines
From the Office of the Chief Psychiatrist, Mental Health Branch, Department of Human Services, Victoria. August 2002.

Mental Health and Victoria's Emergency Departments - Statewide Emergency Program
From the Department of Human Services in Victoria. There are links to a number of documents here.

Mental Health Care Framework for Emergency Department Services
Victoria, Department of Human Services, August 2007. Provides direction for delivery of emergency mental health care in Victoria’s public hospital emergency departments. The framework provides a set of overarching guidelines encompassing the areas of service delivery and clinical care.

Mental Health Responses in Emergency Departments
Program management circular. Victoria, Department of Human Services, February 2008.

The National Institute of Clinical Studies (NICS) - Mental Health Initiative
The Mental Health Emergency Care Interface project was the first major initiative of the Emergency Care Community of Practice (EC CoP) involving 41 teams across Australia. A number of reports are available, as well as links to other useful sites.

Toward a National Approach to Information Sharing in Mental Health Crisis Situations
Final Report of the Mental Health Crisis Intervention Ad Hoc Advisory Group, crisis intervention practice, police and mental health services, Mental Health and Special Programs Branch, Commonwealth Department of Health and Aged Care, February 2000.

Victorian Emergency Department Mental Health Triage Project 2005-06 Training manual
Melbourne, Metropolitan Health and Aged Care Services Division, Victorian Government Department of Human Services, 2007.

Overseas Links

Accreditation for Inpatient Mental Health Services
Acute inpatient mental health services can be challenging environments for staff and patients. Accreditation for Inpatient Mental Health Services (AIMS) is an initiative from the Royal College of Psychiatrists' Centre for Quality Improvement which identifies and acknowledges services that have high standards of organisation and patient care, and supports and enables others to achieve these. Standards are available for a number of environments.

Acute inpatient mental health care : education, training and professional development for all
By Steve Clarke. NIMHE/SCMH, 2004. This document was co-produced by the Department of Health and the Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health. It supplements the training guidance in the Mental Health Policy and Implementation Guidance for Adult acute inpatient care published in 2002 by the Department of Health in England.

Checklist: Improving the Management of Patients with Mental Ill Health in Emergency Care Settings
This checklist offers practical support and guidance to help to improve the care of patients with mental ill health who access emergency care services. It is intended for anyone involved in providing care for these patients, including mental health practitioners and staff working for ambulance trusts and in emergency departments. Produced by the UK Department of Health in April 2004.

Clinical Risk Management: A Clinical Tool and Practitioner Manual
By Steve Morgan. Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health, June 2000. This publication looks at the potential risks of suicide, self-neglect and violence/aggression and at the support networks available. It is designed for use in acute services, crisis intervention and longer-term community mental health teams.

"Don't they call it seamless care?": A Study of Acute Psychiatric Discharge
A study of policy and practice in relation to discharge from psychiatric care. Focuses on the experience of individuals who had spent between a week and six months as a psychiatric in-patients. By Lucy Simons, Alison Petch and Richard Caplan. Nuffield Centre for Community Care Studies University of Glasgow, December 2002.

The Effectiveness and safety of drug treatment for urgent sedation in psychiatric emergencies
A critical appraisal of the literature, by Marita Broadstock
NZHTA Report, January 2001 Volume 4 Number 1.

Emergency Medicine Articles
A collection of articles on emergency medicine from eMedicine. There are some useful psychiatric articles on such topics as:-

Alcohol and Substance Abuse Evaluation
Anorexia Nervosa
Anxiety
Bulimia
Depression and Suicide
Domestic Violence
Elderly Abuse
Panic Disorders
Personality Disorders
Schizophrenia

Emergency Mental Health: Educational Manual
Produced by the Mental Health Evaluation and Community Consultation Unit, University of British Columbia, April 2000.

Engaging People: Observation of People with Acute Mental Health Problems: A Good Practice Statement
Clinical Resource and Audit Group (CRAG), May 2002. This is a revision of the 1995 document Nursing Observation of Acutely Ill Psychiatric Patients in Hospital. A working group chaired by David Bertin, Lomond and Argyll Primary Care Trust was established to carry out the review.

Guidance statement on fidelity and best practice for crisis services
National Institute for Mental Health in England and Care Services Improvement Partnership, 4 January 2007.

A Guide to Managing Stress in Crisis Response Professions
Rockville, MD: Center for Mental Health Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2005.

Learning From Each Other: Success Stories and Ideas for Reducing Restraint/Seclusion in Behavioral Health
Created by the American Psychiatric Association (APA), American Psychiatric Nurses Association (APNA), and the National Association of Psychiatric Health Systems (NAPHS) with support from the American Hospital Association (AHA) Section for Psychiatric and Substance Abuse Services (SPSAS), 2003.

Listening to Experience: An independent inquiry into acute and crisis mental healthcare
London, Mind, 2011.

MENTAL HEALTH IN SCOTLAND: National Standards for Crisis Service CRISIS SERVICES PRACTICE TOOLKIT
This Toolkit was written on behalf of the Scottish Government by Isabella Goldie, Head of Mental Health Programmes - Scotland, Mental Health Foundation with support from James Dalrymple, Scottish Association for Mental Health. December 2008.

Mental Health Policy Implementation Guide. National Minimum Standards for General Adult Services in Psychiatric Intensive Care Units (PICU) and Low Secure Environments.
Produced by the UK Department of Health, April 2002.

THE MERCK MANUAL, Behavioral Emergencies
From the online version of the Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy.

Practice Guidance. Safe and Supportive Observation of Patients at Risk: Mental Health Nursing “Addressing Acute Concerns”
Standing Nursing and Midwifery Advisory Committee. London, Department of Health, June 1999.

Psychiatric Services to Accident and Emergency Departments
Royal College of Psychiatrists Council Report CR118, February 2004.

Report and Recommendations Regarding Psychiatric Emergency and Crisis Services: A Review and Model Program Descriptions
An APA Task Force Report on Psychiatric Emergency Services, by Michael H Allen (Chair), Peter Forster, Joseph Zealberg, and Glenn Currier. American Psychiatric Association, August 2002.

Supporting Psychiatric Assessments in Emergency Rooms
Office of Mental Health, Center for Policy Research, Center for Technology in Government, University at Albany / SUNY, 1995.