Those who work throughout Wichita in public-facing capacities such as receptionists, retail workers, and restaurant servers have a significantly higher probability of personally witnessing a mental health crisis unfolding before their eyes. How many of them know how to handle such a situation?
Most of us either look the other way when we witness an individual showing severe symptoms of mental illness, or we call the police. But the police are not staffed or resourced to act as mental health practitioners. And pretending we didn’t see it does nothing to improve our community. Instead, all front-line and public-facing employees should be trained and knowledgeable about the mental health resources available in your area. In Wichita, ICTOne is a mobile response team consisting of a police officer, a paramedic, and a social worker. The Wichita police also maintain a Crisis Intervention Team – or CIT – that receives special training to respond to these situations. Comcare Crisis is available 24 hours a day, and any local hospital emergency room can assist in stabilizing a mental health emergency as well. There are also non-profit organizations who provide free educational sessions for your staff on how to recognize signs of mental distress, what questions to ask, and how to ask them. In short, there is no excuse for local businesses to claim ignorance on mental health crisis response.
If you would like training for your staff, a simple internet search for Mental Health Wichita will likely bring up numerous organizations. And those organizations which are non-profit will generally provide those trainings at no cost to you. Please do not hesitate to seek that assistance.
