Identifying Special Populations

• History of suicide, self injury, or violence toward others as well as weapons in the home. These will identify special safety issues.
• Medical Issues and medical provider information will assist in identifying possible co-occurring conditions that may be contributing to the person’s crisis or may need special consideration such as vision or hearing problems.
• Mental health diagnosis, symptoms, medications and history of treatment and hospitalizations.
• Chemical use and history of treatment in which answers will prompt further questions, regarding the person’s current use.
• Legal Status of the client may identify the need for the crisis responder to collaborate with others.

The remainder of this section will focus on several populations that crisis responders frequently encounter in their work. These will hopefully, offer a format for working with other populations not covered here.