Ambulance call-outs for psychiatric emergencies during the COVID-19 pandemic

It is possible that the COVID 19 pandemic and/or social distancing restrictions will have mental health implications for many people in Scotland and may precipitate some into mental health crises requiring emergency ambulance attendance. At least 10% of ambulance call-outs in Scotland are mental health related (there were 9,014 calls from 6,802 people for mental health emergencies in Scotland in 2011). In this study we will see whether numbers and patterns of these call-outs, and the characteristics of people experiencing mental health crises, were different from expected during the COVID pandemic.