Crisis Protocol
Effective September 15, 2026 · FirstCall Performance Medicine, PLLC
If this is an emergency right now, don’t wait on this page.
Call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room for any life-threatening condition — chest pain, difficulty breathing, severe injury, uncontrolled bleeding, loss of consciousness, or a mental health crisis. For a mental health emergency specifically, you can also call or text 988(the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline) any time, or text HOME to 741741 (Crisis Text Line). FirstCall Performance Medicine is not a monitoring or emergency service and cannot respond in real time — these resources can.
What we screen for, and why
Part of our intake includes a short, private section — visible only to the athlete and a physician, not automatically shared with a parent — covering things athletes don’t always volunteer out loud: disordered eating, energy availability, and how they’re really doing. We also screen for exertional symptoms that can signal an underlying cardiac issue before we allow maximal testing. These exist because the earlier a real concern is seen, the more options everyone has.
What happens if your answers raise a concern
A physician reviews flagged answers directly — not an algorithm, not a form letter. If what you told us suggests something urgent, we reach out to you directly, and soon. If it’s not urgent, it still gets a physician’s attention before your next step in the program, and nothing about it changes your place in the program. Either way, we’ll tell you plainly what we saw and what we think should happen next.
We are physicians, not emergency responders. If a screening answer describes something happening right now — not something we can review and follow up on in the next day or two — call 911 or 988 immediately rather than waiting to hear from us.
If you’re a parent or guardian and something changes between visits
Don’t wait for a scheduled check-in. Message us through the Care tab in the Performance Portal or email dr.petersen@firstcallperformance.com or dr.carlson@firstcallperformance.com, and separately use the emergency resources above if you have any doubt about safety in the moment. It is always better to use 911 or 988 and be wrong than to wait on us and be right.
If you’re a coach, school, or teammate
If you witness a medical emergency or a mental health crisis at practice, a game, or an assessment — call 911, follow your school or facility’s own emergency action plan, and contact the athlete’s parent or guardian. Contacting FirstCall Performance Medicine is not a substitute for any of those steps and should come after, not instead of, calling for help.
What this protocol is not
This page is not a substitute for a personal safety plan, a local crisis service, or your own physician’s guidance. We don’t monitor athletes in real time between visits, and we can’t guarantee a specific response time to a message sent through the app or by email. For anything that can’t wait, use the emergency resources at the top of this page.
Questions
If anything in this protocol is unclear, reach us at dr.petersen@firstcallperformance.com or dr.carlson@firstcallperformance.com.