W.Va. Legislative Interims: Lawmakers looking at ways to increase mental health support for EMS providers

By Autumn Shelton, West Virginia Press Association

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – West Virginia’s lawmakers are looking at ways to increase mental health support for the state’s Emergency Medical Services (EMS) providers.

On Sunday, during the first day of August’s legislative interim meetings, members of the Joint Committee on Volunteer Fire Departments and Emergency Medical Services discussed the possible use of Alli Connect – an app that can provide digital mental health services to first responders.

Colleen Hilton, Alli Connect’s founder and CEO, was present to discuss the technology.

Hilton, who is also a licensed therapist specializing in first responder care, stated that she founded the Washington state-based company in 2020.

“We are on a mission to ensure that not one more person is lost to a mental health condition or suicide,” Hilton said.

“Alli Connect is predictive wellness technology for first responders,” Hilton explained. “We provide early detection and connection to mental health care before there is a crisis. We create a confidential and safe space for first responders to get the help they need, resulting in improved performance, resilience and employee retention.”

Without support, EMS responders are at risk of “depression, anxiety, PTSD and other mental health diagnoses that can actually be deadly,” Hilton said.

“In 2024, we’ve already seen the highest number of suicides in nearly a decade, with the most recent being only three weeks ago in this very district,” Hilton continued, adding that first responders “rarely ask for help,” but when they do, “we have a single chance to get it right.”

According to Hilton, Alli Connect’s “people first technology” provides accountability through reporting insights and connects patients to therapists within 48 hours to set up their first appointment.

“88% of those people we connect to a therapist identify that it is the right provider for them uniquely, and 57% of those people stay in long-term treatment with that therapist,” Hilton said.

Through West Virginia’s “Answer the Call” program, an initiative to recruit and train EMS personnel, an additional 600 new EMS providers have been hired throughout the state, Hilton stated.

“Now we must retain these professionals and support their ongoing resilience,” Hilton noted.

In response to a question from Committee Chair Sen. Vince Deeds, R-Greenbrier, Hilton said that West Virginia would be the first to implement Alli Connect on a statewide basis, but she has partnered with municipalities and counties throughout the nation.

Del. D. Rolland Jennings, R-Preston, said that in his experience most first responders will not seek help on their own, adding this may be due to “feelings of inadequacy,” or that they are unable to handle the profession.

“Someone has to say, ‘No, you’re going. You have to do this,’ Jennings said. “How can we make sure they are reaching out for help?”

Hilton answered that first responders can engage with the app confidentially, or a family member can engage with the technology on their behalf. She added that a first responders company may integrate Alli Connect’s data on high stress calls to “nudge the next step,” but noted that legislation to mandate that first responders engage in mental health checks are typically “not well received.”

In response to a question from Committee Co-Chair Del. Phil Mallow, R-Marion, about the security of the app, Hilton stated that the app may be downloaded from Google Play or the Apple IOS store.

The first responder would create an account and complete a digital wellness check, Hilton continued.

“All of our technology is HIPAA compliant and SOC2 certified or FirstNet verified . . . nothing that happens inside of our technology goes outside the walls of our servers and even the small team of individuals who have access to the data,” Hilton said.

In response to a question from Del. Joey Garcia, D-Marion, regarding provider care, Hilton stated that the therapists provided to the first responder are local independent providers.

“We go out and we find clinically and culturally competent providers. We invite them into our community, we vet them, we check their licenses and credentials, any ethics violations, and then we serve as the connection point between needing care and a provider in the community who is the right clinical fit,” Hilton said.

West Virginia’s Office of Emergency Medical Services Director Jody Ratliff then explained that Alli Connect would be part of a two-step process, along with ImageTrend – a data connecting service that works between first responders, hospitals and other healthcare organizations.

“We want that data, we need that data,” Ratliff said.

“So, this is a two-step process,” Ratliff continued. “Basically, we identify it, we can talk to the provider, and then we’ve got all the answers with Alli Connect that can set [first responders] up with care.”

The approximate cost of Alli Connect would be $600,000 a year, Ratliff continued. Through SB 737, which provided a dedicated $1 million for mental health services, an emergency rule could be implemented that would cover both Alli Connect and ImageTrend as well as an office-based state mental health liaison for one year.

Ratliff noted that since the $1 million in dedicated mental health funding was a special appropriation, the legislature would need to make a continuous funding decision during the regular session.

Del. Joe Statler, R-Monongalia, stated there is a concern of where additional money will come from.

“There is going to be reckoning at some time that we need to do funding,” Statler said. “And I will go on the record as saying that I think we have to fund the EMS systems in the state of West Virginia. We have to find a better way to fund them better than we are now, and this is all part of it, because I just think there is a total problem in this system that we are not addressing and we have to address it.”

Although Ratliff noted that it is difficult to get first responders to seek help, he said one of his goals is to change that.

“We want to be able to make it an environment where if you see a problem happening, let us know about it,” Ratliff concluded. “That way, we can step in and try to help.”

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