PORT ANGELES — Entrepreneurs and employees should at first be calm and compassionate with potentially mentally ill people who disrupt a place of business, Port Angeles Regional Chamber of Commerce members were advised Monday.

“Know it’s OK to approach them yourself,” Dr. Joshua Jones, medical director at Peninsula Behavioral Health, said at the chamber’s weekly luncheon, attended by 48 participants.

“I’m talking about uncomfortable situations where people look or act or speak out of our own comfort zone.

“He or she who can keep their cool and speak the slowest and calmest always has the upper hand.

“In a calm, slow voice, ask them to leave or go elsewhere or stop what he or she is doing.

“If that fails, the next course of action is to call the police.

“The rest of it is kind of not your guys’ responsibility.”

Jones was featured on a panel discussion on dealing with people with behavioral issues at the workplace.

He was joined Julie Black, Olympic Medical Center safety manager, and Margi Ahlgren and Ann Foulk, board members on the National Alliance on Mental Illness of Clallam County.

During the question-and-answer session, Jones sought to dispel a commonly held suspicion that people are bused to Port Angeles to take advantage of the city’s social and health services.

“There is no data to suggest people are coming here in hordes because we have more resources,” Jones said.

“We don’t. They end up at our doors, we don’t have housing, they leave.”

There are not enough overnight facilities for people with mental health problems, Foulk said.

“There are so few beds,” she said, noting the closest overnight facility is in Bremerton.

“They end up in your stores and facilities.

“You need to not be afraid. Talk to these people, get to know them a bit, and you will find they actually have a story.

“Maybe they need to be out of the cold for a bit.”

As the mother of a child with a mental disability, Foulk said she has been in uncomfortable situations in which the mentally ill have been treated badly, she said.

“Is that the kind of merchant I would deal with, who would treat my son like that?

“If I see merchants who have compassion and treat people the best they can, I would want to shop there.”

Jones said some businesses have written emergency response plans to deal with unruly customers.

“There are loads and loads and loads of people with mental illnesses who do not accept and have the right to refuse treatment and help,” he added.

Black said that Olympic Medical Center said employees who must deal with angry or seemingly unbalanced behavior are urged to pick their battles.

The hospital has increased its security presence at Olympic Medical Center in Port Angeles and facilities in Sequim, she said.

An increasing number of “really angry individuals” is showing up at clinics and confronting receptionists, Black said.

When the situation gets too tense, an employee will make a nondescript call to another office that staff members know is an alert.

“A whole group comes up in front, and they help stop the situation,” Black said.

“Separate the person from the issue,” she added.

“They are in a personal situation they don’t know how to deal with, and you’re the first person they see.”

Black also noted that if a disruptive person continually shows up at a business — a group more than one panelist called frequent flyers — a business owner can “trespass them” to police.

If they continue to show up, police can escort them off the premises, she said.

Children with behavioral issues also can be disruptive, chamber Executive Director Russ Veenema said.

“Compassion goes a long way instead of consternation,” Ahlgren said.

An extremely unruly child might have a behavioral disorder that already highly distresses the parent.

“Try to be patient with the parent as well as the child,” she said.

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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5060, or at pgottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.