EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT (ED) staff rarely know
who will present for urgent and unplanned care at
any given time, and must be prepared to assess and
manage people with a wide range of conditions.
However, many ED staff lack experience and
knowledge in assessing and treating people with
mental health needs (Bryne and Heyman 1997,
McQueen 2000, May 2001, Ballie 2005, Arbuthnot and
Gillespie 2005, Sowney and Barr 2006, Kelleher 2007).
Attendance at EDs can be stressful for patients
and their families, but can be especially traumatic
for people with mental and physical health problems
who are not assessed early (Reet and Brendon 2001,
Hart et al 2005)