Pediatric Psychiatric Issues: The M-1 Hold

As many readers of this blog know, I'm a pediatric ER nurse. What that means is that I just don't take care of newborns and toddlers but also teens and young adults up to the age of twenty-one.

Particularly, in the last five years or so, I've helped care for an increasing number of patients that have been placed on M-1 holds. An M-1 hold (it may go by other names in your area) is essentially a mental health hold or involuntary placement into the hospital for a mental health evaluation.

In our hospital system, there's not a required length of stay but it does mean that, essentially, we take over custody of your child until this evaluation takes place. That means that you as the parent cannot take your kid from our facility and we can transfer them where they need to go without your consent.

Your child can be placed on an M-1 hold by two parties-- either law enforcement or a physician. Sometimes kids come in via police already on an M-1 hold.

A patient is usually placed on a hold for expressing thoughts of wanting to hurt themselves or others by making these statements to either a parent, school counselor, mental health counselor, physician or law enforcement officer.

When a patient makes these statements or requires medical treatment for self-harming (cutting too deep that the cut requires sutures) or outright suicide attempt (like drug overdoses) then they're placed on an M-1 Hold. Emergent or stabilizing medical treatment is always handled first.

When a patient is placed on an M-1 hold, the medical staff must provide for the patient's safety.

We have them change into scrubs of a particular color and confiscate all their clothes. This means everything but their underwear (excluding bras-- yes, they must remove those as well) and perhaps socks. Part of the reason for this is to keep them from fleeing (by taking their shoes) and also as a security measure so staff know that a person leaving the facility in those scrubs needs to be stopped. They also cannot wear hair bands, necklaces, or bracelets. All piercings need to be removed.

They are placed in a "safe room" which, at our hospital, is not the "rubber room" you might imagine but it is devoid of basically everything but the bed and a chair. No cords. No monitor. No alcohol hand gel.

The patient is asked to provide a urine sample. Girls are tested for pregnancy above the age of twelve. All are tested for drugs. If they give a concerning history for possible ingestion-- blood tests may be added to test for aspirin and acetaminophen which can be deadly overdoses.

The patient is then scanned for metal using a wand-type device that you see at airports.

At all times, the patient is under one-on-one observation by someone on our staff even if they have a parent present.

After that, the physician will have a talk with the patient alone, the parents alone and then both parties together if the patient agrees. After that, the physician touches base with the mental health staff to determine the best course of action for the patient.

With the advent of telehealth, some of these mental health evaluations can take place with face-to-face interaction over the computer. This has helped decrease the need for transfers but is a very lengthy process. Each interview mentioned above also takes place by the mental health counselor. Each interview can take 30-60 minutes.

If a patient is transferred, it must be by ambulance. Parents are not allowed to ride in the ambulance for this type of transfer. Again, this is a safety measure. It may be surprising but sometimes parents can complicate matters and for the safety of the EMS team-- they take only the patient.

I hope this provides insight into what will happen if your child is placed on an M-1 hold or you need it for a scene in your novel.