County outreach staff urges partners to call 911 for medical emergencies and provides outreach contact guidance

Yakima County Human Services staff presented a one-page reminder to the Board of Yakima County Commissioners on March 31 clarifying the appropriate points of contact for outreach and when partners should call 911.

Commissioner McKinney said the reminder was prompted by an incident in which a Yakima City Council member contacted the county Human Services director about a person who appeared non-responsive; McKinney said the appropriate first response to medical emergencies is 911 and requested that outreach send a courtesy reminder to partner agencies.

Lance of Yakima County Human Services shared the outreach contact slide during the meeting and said the department monitors a central email and front-desk line during normal business hours and triages requests to the outreach worker or team. "If there's a medical emergency, definitely reach out to 911," Lance said. He added the outreach worker’s direct number is not publicized; it is shared with cities, towns, law enforcement and other institutional partners only.

Lance outlined how the county triages unsanctioned encampments: criminal activity should be routed to law enforcement, active encampment residents to outreach case managers, and abandoned encampments to code enforcement. Commissioners asked staff to include the board on the reminder distribution list so commissioners can see the outreach guidance when it is sent.

The slide and the board’s request do not change statutory responsibilities or emergency response protocols; they are intended as a courtesy clarification for partner agencies.