Burns Ashlyn, Kampman Haleigh, Menachemi Nir
Department of Psychiatry, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN 46202, United States.
Department of Health Policy and Management, Indiana University Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health, Indianapolis, IN 46202, United States.
Health Aff Sch. 2025 Mar 14;3(4):qxaf054. doi: 10.1093/haschl/qxaf054. eCollection 2025 Apr.
A substantial portion of the 20 million calls that emergency medical services (EMS) personnel respond to each year are considered preventable, including more than 1.5 million behavioral health calls. Despite goals of preventing behavioral health crises and reducing the burden on patients and EMS personnel, little is known about how demographic and community characteristics influence behavioral health calls. Using nationwide 2021 EMS call data, we identified counties with high behavioral health calls and examined their demographic and community characteristics. Low-income and racially diverse counties had a higher incidence of behavioral health EMS calls, while politically conservative counties had a lower incidence of behavioral health EMS calls. To better meet the emergency behavioral health needs of communities, policy and decision-makers should consider strategies that increase access to and awareness of alternative behavioral health crisis services (eg, 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline).
紧急医疗服务（EMS）人员每年应对的2000万个电话中，有很大一部分被认为是可以预防的，其中包括超过150万个行为健康方面的电话。尽管有预防行为健康危机和减轻患者及EMS人员负担的目标，但对于人口统计学和社区特征如何影响行为健康方面的电话，人们了解甚少。利用2021年全国范围的EMS电话数据，我们确定了行为健康方面电话较多的县，并研究了它们的人口统计学和社区特征。低收入和种族多样化的县行为健康方面的EMS电话发生率较高，而政治上保守的县行为健康方面的EMS电话发生率较低。为了更好地满足社区的紧急行为健康需求，政策制定者和决策者应考虑采取策略，增加对替代性行为健康危机服务（如988自杀与危机生命线）的获取和认知。
