If you have a mental health crisis in your family and are in need of emergency assistance – call 911.

Be clear with the dispatcher what the situation is, that it is a mental health crisis, and you need the DMMobile Mental Health Crisis Unit to assist. The goal is to keep everyone safe and to seek the appropriate level of assistance for the ill family member or friend.

If you live in a surrounding city (not Des Moines), call your dispatch center.

The non-emergency phone number for the mobile crisis team is 283-4811. A mobile crisis team member will call you back when they are not on a mobile crisis call.

The police liaison to the Mobile Crisis Unit is Officer Kelly Drane. Her hours are 8 to 4 Mon-Fri and her phone number is 205-2270.

In response to your phone call, the first people to arrive to the situation will be Des Moines police officers. Officers will determine if it is a mental health related issue and maintain safety at the scene. Officers make a request through dispatch if the Mobile Crisis Unit is needed. Mobile Crisis only takes referrals from law enforcement.

When DM Mobile Mental Health Crisis Unit staff arrive, a mental health assessment will be done, on-site counseling and problem solving, crisis plan development, coordination with hospitals if transport to a medical facility is necessary, and medication can be administered if necessary. A psychiatrist is always on call to help make those determinations and authorizations.

DM suburbs also use the mobile crisis team services – their officers make the decision whether or not the mobile crisis team is called.

The Mobile Crisis Unit is available 6:30 AM to 2:30 AM – 7 days a week. It is staffed by licensed mental health professionals and registered nurses.

The purpose of the Mobile Crisis Team is to assist law enforcement with mental health calls, save police time, save the county money by avoiding unnecessary hospitalizations, and getting people the help they need.

Typical referrals to Mobile Crisis:
   - suicidal thoughts with or without attempt
   - strange or bizarre behavior
   - persons with known mental illness, disconnected
     from services and causing concern in the
     community
   - group homes

Mobile crisis does not respond to:
   - persons in need of detox
   - persons who are under the control of an illegal
     substance or intoxicated
   - person whose sole issue is financial need or
     homelessness
   - persons who have a weapon or is immediately
     involved in a violent or assaultive act.

The Officer will have the final say at the scene. If a crime has been committed the officer may decide to take the person to jail anyway or not.

If the person needs to be transported, the MCRT worker may transport if there are no safety concerns.

The team sees people of all ages.

Total calls responded to for the Des Moines Area only - in 2008 -was 1061.