When Seconds Matter: Lessons from a Coordinated Crisis Response

I still remember the call that came in shortly after midnight. A high school guidance counselor had flagged a concerning social media post from a student. The school resource officer contacted our crisis line, and within minutes, our mobile crisis intervention team was dispatched. At the same time, we coordinated with local police to ensure a welfare check could be conducted safely and without escalating the situation. The student was found at home, in distress but physically safe. Because of the rapid coordination between school personnel, law enforcement, and our crisis team, the student was voluntarily transported to a hospital with a behavioral health unit that had been alerted in advance to expect the intake.

The real success came in the days and weeks that followed. Our case management staff maintained contact with the student and their family, ensuring continuity of care. The hospital shared discharge information through a secure, HIPAA-compliant platform, which allowed our team to coordinate outpatient services and school reintegration. This case illustrated why collaboration isn't just helpful in crisis response—it is essential. Without it, the student might have fallen through the cracks, as often happens when agencies work in silos.

Barriers to Real-Time Information Sharing

One of the most persistent challenges in suicide prevention work is the lack of real-time information sharing across agencies. While privacy laws like HIPAA and FERPA are in place to protect individuals, they can also make it difficult for schools, hospitals, and law enforcement to exchange urgent information during a crisis. As a supervisor, I've had to navigate these legal constraints while advocating for data-sharing agreements and memoranda of understanding (MOUs) that allow timely, responsible communication between partners.

For example, it can take hours to confirm whether a person we’ve encountered in crisis has a current safety plan on file or a history of psychiatric hospitalization. This delay can be the difference between de-escalating a situation or having it spiral into an involuntary hold. Municipalities that have invested in cross-sector data integration platforms, such as shared electronic health records or coordinated response dashboards, are seeing better outcomes and fewer repeat crises. However, these systems require funding, staff training, and legal support to implement effectively (SAMHSA 2022)¹.

Maintaining Continuity of Care Post-Crisis

The work doesn’t end once a person has been stabilized or discharged from an emergency department. In fact, that’s often when the most critical phase of suicide prevention begins. Follow-up care is where many systems falter. From my experience, the transition from acute care to community-based support is riddled with gaps—missed appointments, lack of transportation, stigma, and insurance issues all contribute to a cycle of recidivism. Without consistent, personalized follow-up, people often return to crisis within weeks.

Our team has implemented a 72-hour follow-up protocol for all suicidal callers or individuals transported through our service. We also assign a single poin