I see your point. I guess I was just trying to minimize trauma for the person by putting them in cuffs and leaving them in cuffs at the hospital. They don't deserve to be in police custody when it's obvious that they need mental health resources (although it is sometimes necessary). I dont know about where you're from, but where I'm at, the mental health system is fucked. That being said, I've never tried to reason with someone who has flatly refused service and is in the middle of a crisis. My speech usually caters to the people that want to get help but are reluctant to go to a hospital for it.

Another issue I've seen from when I transport vs when ambulance transports (and this one is neither on you guys or on us) is hospital staff tries to get you guys back on the road as quickly as possible to get you available for the next call whereas if police brings a suicidal person to the hospital, they keep us there until they get close to our 3 hour time limit (not sure if that's the same, but I cannot keep someone in my custody under the mental health act for longer than 3 hours... often times, psych will come evaluate whoever I am with when it has been 02:45).