Mobile Crisis Intervention – Brenton Gicker and Chelsea Swift

Episode 26Guests: Brenton Gicker & Chelsea SwiftHost: Shimon Cohen, LCSW www.dointhework.comListen/Subscribe on: Apple Podcasts, YouTube, Stitcher, SpotifyFollow on Twitter & Instagram, Like on FacebookJoin the mailing listSupport the podcastDownload transcriptTranscription services provided by FIU’s Disability Resource Center If you love what we discuss on the podcast, then you will love our courses! We focus on frameworks, knowledge, and skills to engage in anti-racist, anti-oppressive, justice-based liberatory practice. CEs are available. Check out https://dointhework.com/courses/ to learn more and register. We hope you will join us! Are you a fully-licensed clinician interested in private practice? Alma and Headway make it super easy! I’ve been using them to manage my private practice. Both handle insurance credentialing and provide you with an electronic health record. If you are interested in learning more, use my referral links for each and they will contact you.AlmaHeadway In this episode, I talk with Brenton Gicker and Chelsea Swift of CAHOOTS – Crisis Assistance Helping Out On The Streets, a 24/7 mobile crisis intervention program of the White Bird Clinic in Eugene, Oregon. CAHOOTS, which pairs a mental health crisis worker and a medic in a big white van, has been receiving national attention as a model for a crisis response alternative to the police or fire department. Chelsea and Brenton share what a typical shift is like for them and how 911 calls are routed to them rather than the police for certain situations. We discuss the cost-effective approach of CAHOOTS as well as the humanitarian benefits, such as de-escalation and fewer arrests, by utilizing the skills of medical and mental health professionals rather than the police. Brenton and Chelsea both share how they got into this work, and how they began as crisis workers and then each decided to become medics, Brenton a registered nurse, and Chelsea an emergency medical technician. I hope this conversation inspires you to action. www.whitebirdclinic.org/cahootsTwitter: @WhiteBirdClinicFacebook: www.facebook.com/WhiteBirdClinic   Music credit:"District Four" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/