Police, Ambulance, Clinician Emergency Response (PACER) is a police-led program, with the capacity for emergency mental health assessment in the community for those in crisis.
Mental health clinicians from Bendigo Health, in partnership with Victoria Police, provide an integrated service response to persons presenting in a mental health crisis within the community, including on site clinical assessment and telephone advice on mental health referral options.
A clinician is based at the Bendigo Police Station 7 days a week from 3-11pm and works with an allocated police officer responding to crisis presentations in a person’s own environment.
Service inclusion is relevant to the level of impact, contextual factors and diagnosis of a mental illness such as: schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, severe personality disorder, eating disorders or severe depression and disabling anxiety disorders.
PACER can only be accessed by a 000 Emergency Service call with an initial response and assessment by Victoria Police.
PACER is a joint crisis response from police and mental health clinicians to people experiencing a behavioural disturbance in the community.
Mental Health clinicians from Bendigo Health, in partnership with Victoria Police, provide an integrated service response to persons presenting in a mental health crisis within the community, including on site clinical assessment and telephone advice on mental health referral options.
A clinician is based at the Bendigo Police Station 7 days a week from 3-11pm and works with an allocated police officer responding to crisis presentations in a person’s own environment.
Service inclusion is relevant to the level of impact, contextual factors and diagnosis of a mental illness such as: schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, severe personality disorder, eating disorders or severe depression and disabling anxiety disorders. Pacer will not consider people where substance use is the presenting concern and treatment needs can be better met with specialist AOD or and primary care sectors.
PACER will not consider high prevalence disorders, such as mild depressive disorders, generalised anxiety disorders and adjustment disorders, where patients can be managed by services in the primary care sector using Medicare Mental Health Care Plans through the GP and counselling services in the community such as psychologists or mental health social workers, or low prevalence disorders where the patient is stable and/or well linked in with a GP, NDIS or other health professionals and patients who do not wish to engage with service, who do not meet criteria for involuntary treatment under the Mental Health and Wellbeing Act 2022.