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Division Chief Paige Bowie reports early results from San Leandro Alternative Response Unit pilot
Summary
Division Chief Paige Bowie updated the committee on an 18-month San Leandro pilot in which an unarmed team of a firefighter, nurse practitioner and community health workers respond to behavioral-health calls; Bowie reported initial metrics—around 3,591 calls answered in three months, 90 follow-ups, roughly 50 on-view contacts, average response time 10 minutes and average time on scene about 30 minutes.
Division Chief Paige Bowie presented an update on Alameda County Fire’s Alternative Response Unit (ARU) pilot, a San Leandro-based mental-health first-response pilot that launched in November with a public rollout Jan. 15 and is scheduled to run 18 months.
Bowie described the ARU model as an unarmed team (one Alameda County firefighter, one nurse practitioner and two community health workers) designed to de-escalate behavioral-health crises, provide mediation, make referrals and reduce unnecessary law-enforcement and emergency-department responses. The unit operates Monday–Thursday on a 40-hour-week schedule out of Alameda County Fire Station 10 in San Leandro.
Bowie outlined the dispatch workflow:…
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