BAGUIO CITY (PIA) — A specialized, empathy-centered approach developed locally to handle mental health emergencies proved successful during an incident on August 29, saving a life without force and protecting the dignity of those in crisis.
At around 2 p.m. that day, authorities responded to a report of an individual positioned on the second floor of a building, armed and in distress. Police had already negotiated for about 20 minutes with not much progress when Nurse Ricky Ducas, chief of the Baguio Health Services Office-Mental Health Unit, took over the lead.
Twenty minutes of calm, empathic engagement were all it took: meeting the person at eye level emotionally, listening without rushing, speaking gently, and validating feelings rather than demanding compliance. The person eventually surrendered his weapon voluntarily and came down safely—no force used, no injuries reported. He was brought immediately to proper facilities and is now under professional care and receiving after-care and psychosocial support.
“This method is built on one core belief: people experiencing mental health struggles remember exactly how they are treated. Traumatize them once, and you lose their trust in every uniformed helper forever,” Ducas, who also holds a doctoral degree, said as he explained this Compassionate Rescue framework, which he pioneered.
“If we lose that trust, the next crisis becomes far harder, and far riskier for everyone,” he said.
Ducas began developing this framework on his own initiative to fill gaps in standard response. It centers on empathy, patience, verbal de-escalation, proper communication, and protecting privacy and dignity at every step—plus strong crowd control and strict rules against taking or sharing photos and videos that could re-traumatize the person.
He noted with optimism that residents are slowly shifting, too. More are now calling authorities first before sharing anything online, showing greater care and responsibility.
“Compassion isn’t softness; it is the strongest tool we have,” Ducas said. “When someone is overwhelmed with fear and confusion, shouting and rushing only makes it worse. We match their concern, not their intensity. We show them they are safe and respected, and that safety brings them back.”
He continues to train police, health workers, and other responders on the method, emphasizing that mental health calls need hearts as well as plans and that true rescue means helping people heal, not just securing the scene. **JDP/MAWC-PIA-CAR
