Thirty-seven hospitals in Massachusetts have started offering intensive home-based mental health care to the families of children stuck in emergency rooms. Counseling at home instead of admission to a psychiatric hospital doesn't work for everyone. But the state says the vast majority of youth who've used this option have not returned to the hospital in a mental health crisis.
we re losing them. reporter: military discipline helps in a crowded hospital, and so did military training for specialist steven prokniak who saw a patient who wasn t breathing on the floor. after standing back for a minute or so, one of the doctors said, hey, do you know cpr? i said, yes, i do. he said, great, glove up, get in there. reporter: he was resuscitated and he went back to work transporting patients. it is a mission for which the guard is ready, even if it is not a mission they ever imagined. dr. eric dickson, the ceo of umass memorial said if there is any positive aspect to look at now, is that omicron tends to blow through quickly. they look for the next few weeks to be terrible, but after that they think it will improve. the challenge is you have to get through the next two to four weeks. there is an urgent need right now. but hopefully it won t last