Lowcountry Behavioral Health Clinicians’ Academy Debuts in January, 2020!

     LOWCOUNTRY EMERGENCY SERVICES BEHAVIORAL HEALTH CLINICIANS’ ACADEMY

We are excited to announce the creation of the Lowcountry Emergency Services Behavioral Health Clinicians’ Academy is to provide current and potential behavioral health clinicians with a curriculum to introduce them to the culture of the various disciplines of emergency services organizations. These organizations will include fire departments, law enforcement agencies, correctional institutions, emergency medical services, and 911 telecommunications centers.

 This program is an improved version of our Team’s original “A Day with Our Clinicians” and “A Day on the Hill” started several years ago to provide our Team clinicians with a look into the emergency services culture. 

For twelve years, the Charleston Dorchester Mental Health Center has provided a First Responder Support Team office in Charleston in cooperation with our Lowcountry Team to provide the clinical support our first responders deserve.  The DMH clinicians in that office have been joined over the years by fifteen other clinicians in private practice who have joined our Team to serve emergency services personnel and their families in the twenty-three counties we serve in the Lower State Region.  Now, the South Carolina Department of Mental Health is preparing to open First Responder Support Team offices to serve all their regions all over the State of South Carolina and we will assist in preparing the clinicians for their new assignments. 

It is our honor to give back by the development of the new Clinicians’ Academy program. We will host their selected clinicians from all over South Carolina to provide them the necessary training to understand the culture and needs of all our emergency services personnel to include Firefighters, law enforcement officers, EMS personnel and 911 telecommunicators. 

The program and will be hosted in Charleston, South Carolina under the supervision of the Lowcountry Firefighter/EMS/911 Support Teams and the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office. The schedule will be divided into separate classes at various locations around the Lowcountry to provide the participants with an opportunity to interact with the members of the emergency services personnel involved in the various organizations. 

We are especially excited to be partnering with the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office and their Peer Support Coordinator, Guy Van Horn, to include law enforcement in the training for the participants.