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EMT Basic · Chapter 23 · Review · Chapter track

Behavioral Health Emergencies

Referencing the content of EMT-Basic training and emergency patient care

Learning objectives (14)

  1. Define excited delirium or agitated delirium — Knowledge/skills objective (printed page 853); confirm wording in your course copy.

  2. Describe methods used to restrain patients — Knowledge/skills objective (printed page 853); confirm wording in your course copy.

  3. Discuss general factors that can cause alteration in a patient’s behavior — Knowledge/skills objective (printed page 853); confirm wording in your course copy.

  4. Discuss the medical and legal aspects of managing a behavioral health emergency — Knowledge/skills objective (print textbook, Chapter 23); confirm wording in your course copy.

  5. Discuss the myths and realities concerning behavioral health emergencies — Knowledge/skills objective (printed page 853); confirm wording in your course copy.

  6. Explain how to recognize the behavior of a patient at risk of suicide, including the management of such a patient — Knowledge/skills objective (print textbook, Chapter 23); confirm wording in your course copy.

  7. Explain special considerations for assessing and managing a behavioral crisis or behavioral health emergency — Knowledge/skills objective (printed page 853); confirm wording in your course copy.

  8. Explain the care for a patient with excited delirium — Knowledge/skills objective (printed page 853); confirm wording in your course copy.

  9. Explain the care for a psychotic patient — Knowledge/skills objective (printed page 853); confirm wording in your course copy.

  10. Know the main principles of care for the agitated, violent, or uncooperative patient — Knowledge/skills objective (printed page 853); confirm wording in your course copy.

  11. Know the main principles of how the mental health care system functions — Knowledge/skills objective (printed page 853); confirm wording in your course copy.

  12. Know the two basic categories of diagnosis that a mental health professional will use — Knowledge/skills objective (printed page 853); confirm wording in your course copy.

  13. Recognize issues specific to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and the returning combat veteran — Knowledge/skills objective (print textbook, Chapter 23); confirm wording in your course copy.

  14. Recognize the magnitude of mental health disorders in society — Knowledge/skills objective (printed page 853); confirm wording in your course copy.

Chapter web resources

Optional reading from authoritative sites. Your textbook remains the primary source for this course.

When sources disagree (5 topics to verify before you teach from this chapter alone)

Printable study sheetPrintable flashcards (PDF, 10-up)Read first, then practise the track.

Showing Chapter track material. Switch tracks on the chapter page.

Vocabulary · 11

  • Behavioral emergency

    A situation in which a patient's behavior is unacceptable or intolerable to the patient, family, or community — often signaling underlying medical or psychiatric illness.

    SourceNIH National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) — Mental health emergencies

  • Suicidal ideation

    Thoughts about, considering, or planning suicide; ranges from passive thoughts to active planning.

    SourceNIH NIMH — Suicide prevention

  • Psychosis

    A loss of contact with reality — including hallucinations, delusions, or disorganized thinking.

    SourceNIH NIMH — Understanding psychosis

  • Excited delirium

    A severe agitation syndrome with hyperthermia, extreme strength, and combative behavior — a medical emergency with high mortality.

    SourceAmerican College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) — Hyperactive delirium with severe agitation

  • De-escalation

    A set of verbal and nonverbal techniques used to calm an agitated person and reduce the risk of violence.

    SourceSAMHSA — De-escalation techniques

  • Therapeutic communication

    Purposeful, supportive, and respectful interaction that builds trust and gathers accurate information from patients in distress.

    SourceSAMHSA — Therapeutic communication

  • Active listening

    Attentive, non-judgmental focus on the speaker, with reflection and clarification rather than rebuttal.

    SourceSAMHSA — Active listening — crisis support

  • Physical restraint

    Use of devices or body positions to restrict movement; reserved for protection of the patient or others when other measures fail, and used per agency protocol.

    SourceThe Joint Commission — Restraint and seclusion standards

  • Positional asphyxia

    Airway or breathing compromise from a body position — especially prone restraint — that can cause death.

    SourceUS Department of Justice — NIJ — Positional asphyxia in custody

  • Suicide risk factors

    Modifiable and non-modifiable conditions that increase suicide risk — prior attempts, mental illness, substance use, recent loss, access to lethal means.

    SourceNIH NIMH — Suicide — risk factors

  • Crisis intervention

    Short-term immediate help that stabilizes a person experiencing a behavioral crisis and links them to definitive care.

    SourceSAMHSA — Crisis services

Sequences · 2

  • De-escalation of an agitated patient — Order the EMT actions to verbally de-escalate a behavioral emergency.
  • Behavioral emergency scene safety priorities — Order the EMT's scene-safety priorities at a behavioral call.