Include Mental Health Phone Numbers

[Patty163]

Hello Fellow Hosts,

In addition to including fire/police numbers on my welcome print out, I also include the local mental health mobile crisis unit phone number and the local suicide hot line.

I believe this does 2 things:

- Can help someone who may need it

- Normalises mental health crisis as any other emergency

I'm an advocate for awareness, and I thought I'd share this to encourage other hosts to include that information as well.

Thanks!

Patty [Surname hidden]

[Emiel1]

@Patty163,

 I had once a guest looking for local AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) phone number....

BTW I doubt if it's a good idea to put all these numbers in a "welcome printout", it maybe could upset guest ?

Best regards,

Emiel

[Patty163]

@Emiel0 - yes, I wouldn't put numbers for all support groups, that would be some long welcome letter!

But with mental health issues on the rise globally and the stigma attached, I feel good about sharing the 2 phone numbers 🙂

In my opinion, it's always better to call a mobile crisis unit rather than the police for mental health. The police where I live don't have much training, if at all, on how to deal with mental health issues.

[Helen3]

That's a great idea @Patty163 

[Lizzie]

Thanks for sharing this useful tip @Patty163, it's a good think to keep in mind. 

[Rebecca0]

I like this idea too.  But actually I think it might be more pertinent to have both guests and hosts register an ICE contact (In Case of Emergency).  I once had a guest fall seriously ill.  She was travelling alone.  She mentioned to me on check-in that she didn't feel too great and wanted to rest so I left her alone and just made sure the household was quiet, thinking it was a cold or jet-lag.  Fortunately she was a tough cookie and managed to get herself to hospital when she realised how serious it was and I wasn't around.   

It made me think:  what do you do if there's a health emergency, either as a guest or a host?  There are all sorts of scenarios where it might be useful - if not crucial - for Airbnb to have an emergency contact number of a family member/friend.    

[Scott-and-Mary-Ellen0]

I've wondered this myself, Rebecca. We've had a couple of elderly guests (despite our warning about stairs). I know first aid and CPR and would certainly phone an ambulance, but if guest was unresponsive, I would have to call Airbnb once they were hospitalized. But we've never provided emergency contact numbers when we traveled or hosted with Airbnb. We do have ICE listed in our phones.  

[Sarah977]

@Rebecca0  I have actually started asking guests for emergency contact numbers- I started doing this about a year ago. I get a lot of single female guests and it's a 20 minute walk to town, so I'd want to have that info handy if they simply didn't come back for a day, and didn't answer their phone, or if a guest had a serious accident or illness. I wasn't sure if Airbnb has this info on file for guests, so I asked my current guest. She checked her profile , and said that there is a place for guest to add that info, but that she had actually neglected to do so, as I'd imagine many guests do.

Even if Airbnb has the info, if a guest had a serious accident or illness, and was rushed to the hospital, I would feel better about contacting their family immediately, rather than first contacting Airbnb and trusting them to relay the info in a timely fashion. I know if I was a guest, or their family, I'd want it done that way.

[Sudsrung0]

We always ask for emergency numbers here in Phuket guest always rent motorbikes and lot of accidents