Community Psychiatry and Emergency Service

The psychiatric emergency service at the Orange County (Calif.) Medical Center provides emergency service for periods from one to two hours up to a day or more on the unit. Comparisons were made between patients seen only once over the first four months of operation and those seen more than once during that period. Patients with acute situational problems could be handled on a one-visit basis, often without hospitalization. Those with personality disorders (including alcohol and drug problems) came more frequently and were hospitalized more often.