“As an EMT at Montgomery County Emergency Services, we respond to mental health emergencies in Montgomery County, alongside local police officers, to act as non-law enforcement personnel on scene. Individuals with a mental health warrant are deemed to be a danger to themselves or others due to a variety of mental health emergencies. Crisis intervention specialist training at MCES has enabled me to support and stabilize highly psychotic and agitated individuals in mental health crisis through empathetic communication and knowledgeable education on PA mental health law. Station 305 provides an innovative alternative to reduce patient stigma, trauma, and injury when interacting with law enforcement as well as allows officers to spend less time away from their home communities.” — Robert Buchys, EMT

The MCES EMS was established in 1975, in MCES’s second year of operation. Fifty years later, Montgomery County 305 responds to emergency mental health calls every day and is still one of the few services of its kind anywhere.