{"id":2851,"date":"2026-04-01T19:08:07","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T19:08:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mhc-tn.com\/?post_type=news&#038;p=2851"},"modified":"2026-05-18T14:36:00","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T14:36:00","slug":"nashville-fire-and-counselors-team-up-for-24-7-mental-health-calls-providing-more-ways-to-help","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/mhc-tn.com\/es\/news\/nashville-fire-and-counselors-team-up-for-24-7-mental-health-calls-providing-more-ways-to-help\/","title":{"rendered":"El equipo de bomberos y consejeros de Nashville se une para llamadas de salud mental las 24 horas del d\u00eda, los 7 d\u00edas de la semana, ofreciendo m\u00e1s formas de ayudar"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Clinicians responded to more than a thousand calls since expanding the REACH Program<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed aligncenter is-type-rich is-provider-embed-handler wp-block-embed-embed-handler\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<div style=\"width: 640px;\" class=\"wp-video\"><video class=\"wp-video-shortcode\" id=\"video-2851-1\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" preload=\"metadata\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"video\/mp4\" src=\"https:\/\/cf.cdn.uplynk.com\/ausw2\/slices\/021\/9ca48a3b38ef42538c6fe52a659b1e99\/021eba64542b48d7b462d2c596ccc4a7\/021eba64542b48d7b462d2c596ccc4a7_e.mp4?_=1\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/cf.cdn.uplynk.com\/ausw2\/slices\/021\/9ca48a3b38ef42538c6fe52a659b1e99\/021eba64542b48d7b462d2c596ccc4a7\/021eba64542b48d7b462d2c596ccc4a7_e.mp4\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">https:\/\/cf.cdn.uplynk.com\/ausw2\/slices\/021\/9ca48a3b38ef42538c6fe52a659b1e99\/021eba64542b48d7b462d2c596ccc4a7\/021eba64542b48d7b462d2c596ccc4a7_e.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>By:&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.newschannel5.com\/about-us\/aaron-cantrell\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Aaron Cantrell<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Posted Apr 01, 2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) \u2014 First responders often meet people on some of the most challenging days of their lives. Now, a partnership between the Nashville Fire Department and the Mental Health Cooperative is giving them more tools to make those moments better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Responders Engaged And Committed to Helping program \u2014 known as REACH \u2014 pairs mental health counselors with fire and EMS crews to assist people in crisis. In its first 100 days operating 24\/7, the effort logged more than 1,000 calls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cBefore the program, there was no immediate resource for mental health calls,\u201d said Nashville Fire and Emergency Management Director William Swann. \u201cNow we can confidently and compassionately respond to those calls with the appropriate care.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Previously, medic units could only transport patients to emergency rooms \u2014 a challenge for nonviolent mental health situations. Through REACH, counselors can design crisis plans that connect people with outpatient care, help them stay at home or link them with a stabilization unit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe can make an individualized crisis plan\u2026 staying at home, or it could mean going over to the crisis stabilization unit,\u201d said Michael Randolph, director of co-response services for the cooperative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In that initial 100-day span, two-thirds of calls were diverted from the ER into mental health treatment, with an 88% medic diversion rate that freed up ambulances for other emergencies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One of those helped was Mark Bass. Experiencing anxiety and without a phone plan, Bass repeatedly dialed 911 because it was the only number he could call.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cMark would frequently call 911 and it was getting to the point where it could turn into a legal matter,\u201d said clinician Kelsey Taylor. \u201cWe didn\u2019t want to see that happening.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Instead of facing legal trouble, REACH connected Bass with community resources. Counselors helped him get a working phone, an ID and a bus pass \u2014 as well as outpatient care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI learned how to use coping skills and work my anxiety out,\u201d Bass explained. \u201cI got a lot of support.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mental Health Cooperative CEO Michelle Schafer said Bass\u2019s case highlights the importance of the partnership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cConsumers like Mark were in an impossible position \u2013 experiencing a mental health crisis with nowhere to turn except 911,\u201d Schafer said. \u201cNow\u2026 folks like Mark can get the compassionate care they need when they need it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>This story was reported by reporter Aaron Cantrell and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Aaron and our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.newschannel5.com\/news\/state\/tennessee\/davidson-county\/nashville-fire-and-counselors-team-up-for-mental-health-calls-24-7-providing-more-ways-to-help\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color\">View on News Channel 5<\/mark><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Clinicians responded to more than a thousand calls since expanding the REACH Program By:&nbsp;Aaron Cantrell Posted Apr 01, 2026 NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) \u2014 First responders often meet people on some of the most challenging days of their lives. Now, a partnership between the Nashville Fire Department and the Mental Health Cooperative is giving them more [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":2853,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"news_category":[],"class_list":["post-2851","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mhc-tn.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/2851","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mhc-tn.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mhc-tn.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mhc-tn.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/mhc-tn.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/2851\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2854,"href":"https:\/\/mhc-tn.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/2851\/revisions\/2854"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mhc-tn.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2853"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mhc-tn.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2851"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mhc-tn.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news_category?post=2851"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}