MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — A local healthcare organization that has offices in three counties around North Central West Virginia is working to help first responders become trained in crisis intervention.
Valley Healthcare System officially wrapped up two separate weeklong Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) training sessions as part of two separate collaborations in Monongalia and Marion Counties. The 40-hour training sessions were led by Valley Health Care Services CIT Coordinator and L.E.A.D. Supervisor Samantha Burgess, where she was supported by L.E.A.D. program coordinator Steve Bennett and included a variation of both law enforcement and emergency responders.
“We all have seen as we drive down the streets that we have a problem that has picked up tremendously, and we have officers that don’t know what to do with these situations. So we bring mental health professionals and the law enforcement officers together so they can collaborate.”
According to Burgess, training consists of work with the Trigon Training Group and the Southern West Virginia Crisis Intervention Team, where they worked with first responders in Monongalia and Marion counties, such as officers with the Morgantown Police Department, Fairmont Police Department, and others. During the training, they emphasized de-escalation techniques, trauma-informed care, and collaborative strategies to improve outcomes during crisis situations. This eventually led to cold open drills where they are asked to use their training to recognize a situation on site if possible.
“We start very basic, and then we build onto that,” said Burgess. “Then by the middle of the week we do role-play hands-on scenarios where we have trainers who will act out a person experiencing a mental health crisis.”
As part of the separate weeklong training courses, agencies such as the Morgantown Police Department, Morgantown Fire Department, West Virginia University Police and Dispatch, and Valley HealthCare participated in the Morgantown sessions. The VA Police from Harrison County, the Marion County Sheriff’s Department, the Fairmont Police Department, and others participated in the sessions hosted in Marion County.
“We offer this training to first responders and mental health professionals in our region,” said Bennett. “We had our first class back in July here in Morgantown, and we had our second one in Fairmont just a couple of weeks ago.”
The ultimate goal for the crisis intervention classes funded by the West Virginia First Foundation is to expand and sustain future CIT training opportunities for first responders and community partners. As an emphasis on collaboration, Monongalia EMS presented one of the training segments aimed at contributing a curriculum designed to equip first responders with knowledge they know firsthand. Efforts that Valley HealthCare Systems employees feel will be beneficial in the long term.
“The ultimate goal for this is to see some increased diversions instead of people with mental health crises sitting in jail and getting wrapped up in that system, and to reduce the stigma we have.”