> The first responders couldn't have been nicer. The firemen, EMTs, and policemen who responded were very kind and courteous. Yes, I mostly agree. Fear of bein

> The first responders couldn't have been nicer. The firemen, EMTs, and policemen who responded were very kind and courteous. Yes, I mostly agree. Fear of being treated poorly by the EMTs and firemen is not a reason to avoid calling 911. Even many police departments have been doing a much better job about making sure that their officers have a better training and mindset for calls involving mental health crises. There are still enough horror stories about police responses that I would evaluate the track record of your local department when deciding whether to be afraid of them when considering making that 911 call. > It was the mental health infrastructure that was abysmal, not the first responders. This was indeed the intended thrust of my comment. I think fixing the remaining issues with police training and attitude is a much smaller and less important problem than figuring out how to revamp, operate and fund our mental health system more effectively.