A screening tool that\u2019s been used by RCMP officers in the East Kootenay region is being expanded throughout the Interior to help police respond to mental health calls, while easing the pressure that healthcare teams face.<\/p>\n
The HealthIM app is a digital public safety tool that supports police officers\u2019 response to people in crisis. It takes the form of an app that officers use when responding to mental health calls, allowing them access to information about the client regarding their potential triggers, risk factors and methods of de-escalation.<\/p>\n
A mental health risk score is generated to give officers a better sense of whether a person is a potential harm to themselves or others, and whether they should be apprehended under the Mental Health Act.<\/p>\n
According to the province, since it began being used, HealthIM has resulted in a 46 per cent decrease in apprehensions, a 39 per cent reduction in hospital wait times and a 37 per cent increase in hospital admission rates \u2014 the latter being an indication that more people experiencing mental health crises are willing to receive care.<\/p>\n
Vernon-Lumby MLA Harwinder Sandhu announced the expansion of HealthIM on behalf of the Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General outside the Vernon RCMP detachment Friday, May 22. She was joined by members of the RCMP and Interior Health (IH), who explained how this tool is already proving effective, and why it\u2019s being expanded to more RCMP detachments.<\/p>\n
The HealthIM app was launched at RCMP detachments throughout the Interior on April 29, including Kelowna, Keremeos, Lake Country, Penticton, Princeton, Oliver, Osoyoos, Summerland, Vernon and West Kelowna. BC Highway Patrol is also using the tool in Kelowna, Keremeos and Falkland.<\/p>\n
In the West Kootenay and Boundary area, the tool has been launched in Castlegar, Grand Forks, Midway, Nakusp, Salmo, Slocan Lake and Trail.<\/p>\n
HealthIM will launch at the following Thompson and Shuswap RCMP detachments on May 27: Ashcroft, Barriere, Chase, Clearwater, Clinton, Kamloops, Logan Lake, Lillooet, Merritt, Revelstoke, Salmon Arm, Sicamous and Tk\u2019eml\u00faps te Secw\u00e9pemc. BC Highway Patrol will start using it on that date in Merritt, Kamloops and Revelstoke.<\/p>\n
\u201cAmong the most challenging situations people face are calls involving people who are facing mental health crisis,\u201d Sandhu said. \u201cThey can quickly escalate into public safety emergencies that pose risks to everyone involved, including the public and including care providers. In these unpredictable moments, police are often the first ones to arrive on scene.\u201d<\/p>\n
These situations require timely responses as well as situational awareness, empathy and quick judgement, Sandhu said, adding the HealthIM app is already helping officers achieve better outcomes.<\/p>\n
\u201c[The app] provides real-time, evidence-informed guidance to help police assess the risk, deescalate situation and connect a person in crisis to appropriate care,\u201d Sandhu added.<\/p>\n
With the final phase of the app\u2019s rollout happening next week, HealthIM will be implemented in 40 RCMP detachments and nine BC Highway Patrol locations throughout the Southeast District, said Michelle Tansey, Supt. of the BC Association of Chiefs of Police.<\/p>\n
\u201cApproximately one in five police interactions in British Columbia involve someone experiencing a mental health crisis. These are not routine calls for service. They\u2019re often deeply human, emotionally charged situations involving individuals and families experiencing some of the most vulnerable and difficult moments in their lives,\u201d Tansey said. \u201cThis is why initiatives like HealthIM matter.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chris Simms, executive director of clinical operations for IH remarked that HealthIM supports smoother, more coordinated transitions of care from police to emergency department staff, allowing health care professionals to work more effectively.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re already seeing success with this initiative through previous rollouts in the East Kootenay region,\u201d Simms said.<\/p>\n
For Revelstoke RCMP Staff Sgt. Chris Dodds, who\u2019s been the lead on this project for two years, HealthIM is a tool that makes decision-making in fast, complex situations more manageable.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt supports more trauma-informed interactions, reduces duplication at the hospital and creates a more coordinated response around the individual, which is the main thing,\u201d Dodds said.<\/p>\n
Dodds added that as of May 19, HealthIM has been used a total of 272 times by RCMP in the Southeast District, which includes 133 Mental Health Act apprehensions where folks were transported to health care services for further support.<\/p>\n
\u201cThose numbers represent people in crisis receiving more informed and coordinated care during some of the most difficult moments in their lives,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Vernon Mayor Victor Cumming pointed out that fire departments are also on the frontlines and dealing with mental health incidents, adding HealthIM is a critical tool for all frontline workers.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s building on the significant success of our current joint nurse and police program,\u201d Cumming added. Sandhu highlighted that this joint team in Vernon will also have access to the app.<\/p>\n
Dodds said it takes less than 20 minutes to train officers how to use the app, and once they get used the the technology, it can be implemented very quickly.<\/p>\n
The B.C. government provides $2 million annually to the BC Association of Chiefs of Police to support the rollout of HealthIM across municipal police departments and RCMP detachments throughout B.C.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A screening tool that\u2019s been used by RCMP officers in the East Kootenay region is being expanded throughout…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":458933,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[163,85,46,522,523],"class_list":["post-458932","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mental-health","tag-health","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-mental-health","tag-mentalhealth"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/458932","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=458932"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/458932\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/458933"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=458932"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=458932"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=458932"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}