Emergency Psychiatry

Annotation by Naomi Schmelzer, MD MPH
July 2017

Of interest:

Wilson MP, Nordstrom K, Anderson EL, Ng AT, Zun LS, Peltzer-Jones JM, Allen MH: American Association for Emergency Psychiatry Task Force on Medical Clearance of Adult Psychiatric Patients. Part II: Controversies over medical assessment, and consensus recommendations
West J Emerg Med 2017; 18(4):640-646In Part II of the series from the AAEP Task Force on Medical Clearance of Adult Psychiatric Patients, the authors put forward eight consensus recommendations and focus on areas of controversy and further research. As suggested in the article, medical screening algorithms have been adopted on an ad hoc basis between local ED and psychiatric receiving facilities; however, no universal validated approach is in widespread use. The recommendations offer a balanced approach to medical assessment of psychiatric patients, taking into account the essential elements of this process as well as the constraints of both the ED and psychiatric receiving facilities. Particular strengths of this article are that it identifies clear areas of research needed to further inform the process of medical stabilization, and that it encourages cooperation between ED and its receiving psychiatric facilities to resolve disputes for a more efficient disposition.