Expert Consensus Guidelines™ - Treatment of Behavioral Emergencies

Treatment of Behavioral Emergencies

Allen MH, Currier GW, Hughes DH, Reyes-Harde M, Docherty JP. The Expert Consensus Guidelines™: Treatment of Behavioral Emergencies. A Postgraduate Medicine Special Report. May 2001. The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

The Expert Consensus Guidelines™ on Behavioral Emergencies are dedicated to a new climate of increased respect for consumers and an effort to move from control to care. Based on a survey of 50 experts in emergency psychiatry and psychopharmacology, these guidelines begin with recommendations on how to perform the initial medical and psychiatric assessment of a psychiatric emergency and create a plan of care. A series of specific guidelines provide guidance on how to select the most appropriate initial strategy based on the patient's specific presentation whether the symptoms appear to be due to a general medical condition, substance intoxication, or a psychiatric disorder. Guidance is given on how to select the most appropriate medication and route of administration for these different types of presentations if the clinician decides that medication is indicated, with the goals of ensuring patient and staff safety in the short-term while minimizing side effects and promoting the best long-term treatment outcomes . Recommendations are given concerning how to handle an imminently violent patient, when it is appropriate to use physical restraints or seclusion (for example, when other strategies have failed and the patient presents an acute danger to self or others), who should initiate restraints or seclusion, how they should be used, and when and how to use medications in conjunction with restraints. Other guidelines give recommendations for managing inadequate response to the initial intervention. Finally, guidelines cover specific safety issues, such as choosing a medication for a pregnant woman who is agitated, psychotic, and unresponsive to direction, for a violent and unmanageable child, or for patients who have complicating medical conditions. Detailed treatment selection algorithms are also included.

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The following files can be downloaded:

A. Full reprint in PDF: Treatment of Behavioral Emergencies

Adobe Acrobat format (888 KB)

This file does not contain the cover, masthead, and CME material which can be downloaded separately by clicking here:
Behavioral Emergencies Cover
Adobe Acrobat format (42 KB)

B. Behavioral Emergencies Intervention Algorithm (2 pages)

Adobe Acrobat format (198 KB)

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*The CME program for this product has expired.

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