Helping People in Crisis

You're walking your kids home from school through the rain and you see someone huddled in a doorway. Maybe they're shouting. Maybe they're agitated. Maybe they're motionless. Are they OK? Do they need help? What should you do?

Portland Street Response was designed for this scenario. PSR offers compassionate response for people going through mental or behavioral crisis. PSR responds to calls where there's no imminent threat to someone's health or safety, freeing up police and ambulance crews to handle life-threatening situations. PSR responders are emergency medical technicians and crisis workers with deep experience helping people going through tough times. Since their launch in 2021, they've responded to more than 33,000 calls.

Chris Paul (call him "Bubba") is an EMT who has been working for PSR for two and a half years. We caught up with him last month and asked him questions in between calls.

How did you get into this line of work? Have you heard of Mr. Magoo? He's a cartoon character with poor vision who wanders into bizarre situations. I Magooed my way into this. I was doing boy scout summer camp and took a class. I thought it was for emergency preparedness. Turns out it was for emergency response. I got hooked. I became an emergency medical technician and worked in Washington County for five years. I saw how much need there is for mental health support in these emergency calls. So signed up with Portland Street Response.

What does the day look like? We're driving around the city responding to calls. In a typical shift, we get anywhere from a dozen to two dozen calls. We see all kinds of folks. Younger people, older people, couples. Cardiac arrests, strokes, overdoses. Sometimes people are intoxicated. Sometimes they're just having a really bad day. Last week we helped a woman who was having a crisis. Once she had something to eat, she felt better. Hangry is 100% a thing. We see a lot of people with chronic medical conditions and chronic wounds. Every day is an adventure.

What is your mission? We're there to help people - with their permission. We're there to help them find solutions to crises in the moment. Get them to the right level of care. Sometimes that's the ER. But sometimes it's more like a clinic or a shelter or a social worker.

What has been the impact of fentanyl on the street? In a word, heartbreaking. We see overdoses. We see withdrawal symptoms. Fentanyl is so addictive, people feel powerless to get off it. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. We also see chronic effects. People who are 30 years old but look 60, with swollen limbs and blood flow issues. It starts with a physical hurt, or an emotional hurt, and they're just trying to get through the day. Then they get addicted. And they spiral.

How do you deal with that? We're here to meet people where they are right now. We use reflective listening. It helps people feel heard, and sometimes they can pull actions out of the words. We have aftercare teams that help them establish goals and a plan and connect them to resources. At the end of the day I am trying to help people. But you have to listen to them first.

What do you do when you're not working? I like video games. Helldivers 2. Arma Reforger. Minecraft. Bloomingtale. I like playing tabletop games like Dungeons and Dragons. My favorite character is Fitzwilliam. He belongs to a nation of seafaring librarians.

What do you like about Portland? I love the diversity, the food. Hiking. Downtown Portland. I love the Grotto. I even proposed to my wife there!

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Portland Street Response assists people experiencing mental health and behavioral health crises. Call 911 to request service anywhere in the city. We operate citywide from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day of the week.