Gyeongnam Province to Add Eastern Region Mental Emergency Crisis Intervention Team Starting New Year

Gyeongsangnam-do, the first in the nation to newly establish and operate a crisis intervention team for high-risk mental illness patients, will expand its operation to three regions starting January next year.

On the 28th, Gyeongnam Province announced that since the arson and stabbing murder incident at an apartment in Jinju involving a mentally ill patient in April 2019, it has been operating the crisis intervention team for the first time nationwide to improve the mental emergency response system and enable rapid initial response.

Gyeongnam Provincial Government Office.
Photo by Lee Seryeong

According to the province, the crisis intervention team consists of six members per region, including nurses, social workers, and counselors, who work 24 hours to respond to mental emergencies involving high-risk mental illness patients who pose a danger to themselves or others.

During nighttime and holidays, the team responds on-site together with police and fire ambulance personnel in situations of mental crisis or risk of extreme choices, conducting crisis assessment and counseling to induce psychological stability, supporting emergency hospitalization and inpatient treatment, and providing follow-up case management.

This year, as of November, the team has responded to 520 emergency dispatches and conducted 13,170 counseling sessions.

The province had operated two regional crisis response teams since July 2020, but considering the wide dispatch jurisdiction causing an average dispatch time of about 1.3 hours, it decided to increase to three regional teams to shorten dispatch time and enable faster on-site response.

The newly established Eastern Region crisis intervention team was set up within the Gimhae City Mental Health Welfare Center in cooperation with the Gimhae Public Health Center.

The regional crisis intervention teams, integrated and operated by the Gyeongnam Provincial Mental Health Welfare Center, will be divided and active from the new year as follows: ▲Eastern Region (Gimhae, Miryang, Yangsan) ▲Central Region (Unified Changwon, Uiryeong, Haman, Changnyeong, Goseong) ▲Western Region (Jinju, Tongyeong, Sacheon, Geoje, Namhae, Hadong, Sancheong, Hamyang, Geochang, Hapcheon).

Baek Jong-cheol, Director of Health Administration, said, “With the operation of crisis intervention teams in three regions, it is expected that rapid intervention and reduced response time on-site will be possible in mental emergency situations involving risks of self-harm or harm to others.” He added, “We will continue to strengthen cooperation with police, fire, and medical institutions to do our best to protect the safety of the residents.”