Last month, Seattle expanded two of its Health One response units to U-District and Ballard to primarily serve the two neighborhoods.
The first unit serves the downtown area and the Capitol Hill neighborhood, while the Health Two unit team dispatches from the fire department’s Station 17, located at 1050 NE 50th St. in the U-District. The Health One program was launched in 2019 with the aim of sending a team of two EMT-trained firefighters and one social worker from the Human Services Department’s Aging and Disability Services Division to answer non-emergency 911 calls, like medical requests, behavioral and mental health crises, substance abuse, or provide other social services.
“Ballard and the U-District have seen an uptick in people experiencing homelessness and behavioral health crises,” Don Blakeney, executive director of the U District Partnership, said. “It made sense for us to be the next wing of this program.”