(a) In emergency circumstances where certification by a physician is not available without serious and unreasonable delay, and when personal observation of the conduct of a person constitutes reasonable grounds to believe that the person is a person in need of treatment, and he or she presents an immediate risk of serious injury to himself or herself or others if not restrained, a law enforcement officer or mental health professional may make an application, not accompanied by a physician's certificate, to any Superior judge for a warrant for an emergency examination.

(b) The law enforcement officer or mental health professional may take the person into temporary custody and shall apply to the court without delay for the warrant.

(c) If the judge is satisfied that a physician's certificate is not available without serious and unreasonable delay, and that probable cause exists to believe that the person is in need of an emergency examination, he or she may order the person to submit to an evaluation by a physician for that purpose.

(d) If necessary, the court may order the law enforcement officer or mental health professional to transport the person to a hospital for an evaluation by a physician to determine if the person should be certified for an emergency examination.

(e) A person transported pursuant to subsection (d) of this section shall be evaluated as soon as possible after arrival at the hospital. If after evaluation the licensed physician determines that the person is a person in need of treatment, he or she shall issue an initial certificate that sets forth the facts and circumstances constituting the need for an emergency examination and showing that the person is a person in need of treatment. Once the physician has issued the initial certificate, the person shall be held for an emergency examination in accordance with section 7508 of this title. If the physician does not certify that the person is a person in need of treatment, he or she shall immediately discharge the person and cause him or her to be returned to the place from which he or she was taken, or to such place as the person reasonably directs. (Added 1967, No. 305 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. Oct. 1, 1968; amended 1977, No. 252 (Adj. Sess.), § 8; 2013, No. 192 (Adj. Sess.), § 6, eff. Nov. 1, 2014.)