How Lynnfield police are using health information to improve 911 responses

LYNNFIELD, Mass. — One of the first programs of its kind in the state is having a positive impact on the Lynnfield Police Department and resident families with loves ones on the autism spectrum.

The new program is giving first responders a better idea of what to expect when they're called to a home.

James Macintyre, 19, is non-verbal and has autism, but he can communicate with his parents through an iPad. He is prone to seizures which can cause him to become aggressive.

Last year, he turned violent on his mother when his father was out of town, so she was forced to call 911 for back-up.

Police responded to the Macintyre home that night the same way they'd respond to any 911 call -- with their lights flashing. But that can trigger negative behaviors -- even seizures -- in people with autism.

“Microphones and walkie-talkies are going and James is getting worse in the kitchen, because now on top of this seizure he probably had a couple of hours ago, this overload of stimuli and strangers are occurring,” James’s father, Daniel, explained.

So Daniel called the police chief and talked with him about arming officers with pertinent information about residents on the on the spectrum -- like things that may exacerbate violent behavior.

“We thought we could do a better job. So we tailored ERIN, which is the Emergency Responders Information Network, and what that does is give us the ability to tailor an individualized response,” Lynnfield Police Chief David Breen said.

Lynnfield police have spoken with about 50 families and put background information about patients' needs, habits and triggers in this database.

Dispatchers can access that information when police are called and inform the officers that James, for instance, prefers to be addressed as James and doesn’t like to be touched.

“It also gives the parent or caregiver pretty much the opportunity to delegate out the primary caregiver needs in the case of an emergency like a house fire that they wouldn't normally do,” Daniel said.

Lynnfield police have responded to the Macintyre's home since that original incident, but this time they staged some of their cruisers down the street and James was less alarmed.

Police have since expanded the program to include families dealing with Alzheimer’s and life-threatening allergies.

Cox Media Group