Montana is facing a serious and life-threatening issue, and Havre is no exception.
According to data from the Montana Department of Health and Human Services, for all age groups, Montana has ranked in the top five for suicide rates in the nation, for the past thirty years. And in Montana between 2011-20 the youth suicide (ages 11-17) rate is 11.9/100,000. This is more than double the national rate for the same age group (4.98).
The Havre Fire Department and EMS often respond to mental health related emergencies. Havre Fire Chief Nathan Courtnage explains the approach and process that the fire department follows when helping in a mental health related emergency.
“Overall safety is always a main concern, but to treat the patient with care and compassion and understanding is something that we want to do with the patient.”-Nathan Courtnage
He continued to explain the actions that would be taken in order to maintain patient safety.
“Yeah, so there’s a law out there that can help us. We put a patient in protective custody and any patient that is going to hurt themselves or hurt others or isn’t quite coherent to the person, place, or time, or event that’s happening we take them to the hospital either by ambulance or with law enforcement, whatever is safest for the patient.”– Nathan Courtnage
