FOR ALL COUNSELORS: What to Do if InfoBase isn’t Working

[Frank D’Aulisa]

Attention All Counselors:

There has been some ongoing maintenance with InfoBase that has led to some intermittent outages. When this happens, it often comes back up on its own within a few minutes, but it may sometimes be longer than that. If you are unable to access InfoBase, here are some workarounds:

1. When this happens, InfoBase is usually the only website affected and the counselor manual and Five9 system are still operational. You can still refer to the different sections in the manual for things like translation calls, intervention instructions, and other resources by going directly to wiki.licconline.org.

2. REFERRALS: If referrals are needed, it’s okay to let callers know that we are experiencing some technical issues with our database and ask them to call back later to get referrals. You can also reference the “Bulletin Board Referrals,” but keep in mind that there may be some restrictions on these referrals that may prevent a person from being able to use them. Some phone numbers may also have changed, but we are working on making sure that these referrals will be as up-to-date as possible. Do not give out any referrals from this list if the call is on 227-TALK or Huntington Hotline, as they may not be approved to give out on these lines. Note that the Suffolk County Mobile Crisis Unit referral can be given out on 227-TALK.

3. KNOWN CALLERS: If you suspect that you’re speaking to a Known Caller, or see on Five9 that they are a Known Caller, you can just spend about 10-15 minutes on the phone with them and stick to the generic guidelines of trying to keep the call focused, exploring other supports and coping skills, and not giving the 24/7 rap. If it’s someone you know you’ve spoken to before and can remember their guidelines, you can handle the call accordingly.

4. CARD WRITING: You can write up your call summary and as much as you can remember for the other fields on the card in a Word document. If InfoBase does not come back up before your shift ends, you can email the document to administrative staff and we can put all the information in a card for you once we are able to access InfoBase again. Some of the most important information for your cards:
– Call Date & Time
– Line Called
– Age & Youth Involvement
– Gender
– Name
– Phone Number (if applicable)
– Address (if applicable)
– Affect
– Known Caller Name (especially if ID’d in Five9)
– Resolution
– Categories (whatever you can think of) / Primary Category
– Location (Town)
– Referrals (if given from Bulletin Board Referrals)
– Lethality Assessment: Priors, Plan, Method, Means, Losses, Buffers

5. FOLLOW-UP CALLS: If you need to offer a follow-up call, please make sure you collect the following information:
– Phone Number
– Can we leave a voicemail?
– Would anyone besides you answer this phone?
– Best Time to Contact
– You can also let them know that we will be calling them from our direct hotline number – 516-679-1111.

6. OUTREACH CALLS: If you need to offer an outreach call, please make sure you collect the following information:
– Caller’s Name (3rd Party)
– Caller’s Phone number (3rd Party)
– Caller’s Relationship to Suicidal Person
– Would anyone besides you answer this phone?
– Is it okay for us to leave a voicemail for you? (3rd Party)
– When we reach your [friend], can we tell them that you called about them? If no, we’ll just say a concerned friend.
– Suicidal Person’s Name (1st Party)
– Suicidal Person’s Phone Number (1st Party)
– Suicidal Person’s Age
– Suicidal Person’s Address or Town
– Best Time to Contact

7. MOBILE CRISIS UNIT: Specific instructions for accessing the intake and message forms have been sent out to all who need it. You can reference the “Bulletin Board Referrals” if you need to refer someone to Suffolk MCU. For those who do not answer 227-TALK, the number for the Nassau County MCU is 516-227-8255.

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