Emergency duty team is a team of local authority social workers providing social work services when offices are closed overnight, at weekends and during holidays. Generally the team covers a large geographical area, such as an entire county, and responds only in urgent situations. These critical situations include when a person may have to be detained in mental hospital or a child may have to be removed from his or her parents to avoid further abuse. Members of the team are experienced practitioners skilled in working with psychiatrists and the police who will frequently be present when they are called out.