S. Joseph Woodall, PhD, NBCC retired from the active career fire service at the rank of captain in 2003. His field experiences dealing with patients suffering from psychological emergencies rather than medical emergencies inspired this field guide. Fire departments, law enforcement agencies and the emergency medical response community are encountering more and more psychologically related emergencies and desperately need effective tools to assist them in successfully managing and mitigating mental health emergencies. This field guide addresses those needs. Joseph now serves as a Assistant Visiting Professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte where he continues to assist the… fire service through the Fire Safety Engineering Technology program. He further works as a licensed counselor and trainer in the areas of leadership, organizational systems, and critical incident stress management.