Mental and Behavioral Health Crisis Information and Resources

Mental Health Crisis Protocol and supports for the GDRSD Community

In the event of a mental health emergency, the following protocol can be used to help guide best practices for ensuring the safety and well-being of your child.

Emergencies can include incidents of significant emotional and/or behavioral dysregulation; self-injurious behaviors; expression of suicidal thoughts or attempts; expression of homicidal thoughts or attempts to cause harm to others; psychotic episodes. Use your best judgement when weighing these options

1. Call your child’s Primary Care Physician (PCP) office, and/or therapist’s office for support and guidance.
2. Call the local psychiatric crisis team. Explain the crisis situation to the triage person who answers the phone.

Other Crisis Teams:

• Lowell General Hospital has a behavioural health crisis team that will provide psychiatric crisis evaluations in the emergency room.
• Emerson Hospital has a behavioral health crisis team that will provide psychiatric crisis evaluations in the emergency room.

In School Crisis Management (while school is actively in session):

• GDRSD has School Counselors working in every school building. If you become aware of a mental health crisis that occurs during school hours, contact the school directly ASAP and the school counselor will ensure appropriate evaluation of the crisis.
• If the mental health crisis occurs outside of school hours, we do ask that parents inform the school counselor so that we can help your child with in-school supports as they return to school.
• Please note that all school counselors are trained and licensed in working with students with a wide range of mental health challenges. We also work very hard to protect the privacy and confidentiality of students' mental health profiles and collaborate closely with parents to ensure that only essential information is shared with appropriate school staff.