VIDEO: Beginning Saturday, a service to help residents with mental health related issues is now being offered seven days a week.
The Madison CARES (Community Alternative Response Emergency Services) program is extending its service to weekends.
The program consists of Madison Fire Department community paramedics and a Journey mental health crisis workers. The teams respond to people experiencing non-violent behavioral health emergencies, and Sept. 16 marked the beginning of their new weekend service.
“We knew this expansion was coming,” Madison Fire Assistant Chief of EMS Operations Ché Stedman said. “We really just need to make sure that we were hiring good workers, getting them on boarded and trained before we could actually start weekend hours.”