What to do in an emergency

If you are faced with a situation with a child/young person that you consider to be an emergency, then the first consideration should be to decide which service you require in order that the child/young person is appropriately safe.

If the emergency is a safeguarding/child protection issue then social care and/or the police should be the service to contact immediately.

If it is a medical emergency, the emergency services [999] should be contacted immediately. This may be in situations where a young person has existing mental health difficulties and has hurt themselves severely and requires immediate medical attention. It could also be if a young person suddenly becomes unwell. e.g. collapses due to the effects of low body weight.

If a child/young person absconds and you cannot locate them within what you deem a reasonable length of time, then you will need to contact the police immediately and report them as a missing person.

If you are worried about a child/young person’s mental health, for example in the circumstances listed below, please first take a look at this  Rise webpage where you will find a list of support lines and services that can offer immediate guidance and advice.

The Children's Crisis team is contactable on 111 (select Option 2 for mental health and Option 2 again for CAHMS) to provide immediate mental health advice and guidance.

The Navigation Hub on 0300 200 2021 is open Monday – Friday 8am – 6pm; the team there are also able to offer clinical advice and support.

These circumstances may include:

  • When a young person is presenting with low mood and/or is in a distressed state, accompanied by expressions of hopelessness and imminent suicidal intention. They may tell you that they have a suicide plan and have the means available to follow this through.
  • A young person presenting in a distressed state that is not in keeping with their usual presentation and you observe that they may be responding to visual/auditory or tactile experiences that may indicate a psychotic state.

In all of these emergency situations it is important to contact the child/young person’s parents/carers as soon as possible. This would be with the exception of safeguarding situations if you believe that doing so would put the child/young person at further risk.