Mental health: involuntary commitment: transportation.

Under existing law, when a person, as a result of mental disorder, is a danger to others, or to himself or herself, or gravely disabled, he or she may, upon probable cause, be taken into custody and placed in a facility designated by the county and approved by the State Department of Mental Health as a facility for 72-hour treatment and evaluation. Existing law exempts from criminal or civil liability specified people and entities who detain a person for 72-hour treatment and evaluation pursuant to this provision. This bill would authorize a provider of ambulance services, as defined, and the employees of those providers to further detain a person in custody for the purpose of transporting him or her to a county-designated facility, whether or not accompanied by a person otherwise authorized. The bill would also exempt from criminal and civil liability individuals transporting a person for 72-hour treatment and evaluation pursuant to this provision.