Psychological Emergency

When an administrator, faculty member or student is aware of an individual with a psychological emergency, one should assess the level of crisis and respond using the following as guidelines:

1. When an individual is making or threatening an attempt on his or her life you should:

• Notify Public Safety of the situation immediately and clearly state that you need assistance; give your name, location and a description of the individual(s) involved. Public Safety will call Counseling Services for assistance.
• Appear calm and confident that you can help the individual.

2. When an individual has given thought to ending his or her life but has not initiated or threatened to initiate a suicide attempt, they might have a plan and means for carrying out that plan, and/or might have experienced depression, traumatic situations or behavioral changes, you should:

• Remain with the individual.
• Appear calm and confident that you can help the individual
• If a student, contact Counseling Services or Public Safety. After regular business hours, a student can speak with the Counselor-On-Call who can be reached by calling Public Safety.
• If an employee, refer the employee to Human Resources, the employee’s supervisor, or Public Safety.