B.C. police agencies successfully lobby for app to assess mental health calls
British Columbia’s police chiefs have successfully lobbied the provincial government for funding to dramatically expand an app to screen, document, and assess what kind of mental health resources will best serve people they encounter in distress.
Buried in a long and comprehensive plan to address public safety challenges announced by the premier on Sunday is funding for the HealthIM app, touted as providing better connections between law enforcement and the healthcare system.
“This helps determine whether or not they need to be in hospital in the first place,” said RCMP Supt. Todd Preston, president of the BC Association of Chiefs of Police, who pointed out officers are spending hours in busy hospitals waiting to hand patients over to health-care professionals, which can stigmatize the patient in their custody.
His association has spent months urging the province to get behind the system, which he says will likely take months to plan, train and implement, but insists it’s geared at helping responding officers avoid conflict triggers and determine which help is best for someone in crisis.
“This allows things hopefully to speed up so they can be seen by a practitioner sooner,” Preston said, pointing out a quarter to half of police calls for service on a given day can involve reported mental health issues. “Oftentimes we’ll ask the same questions as the hospital. This way, before they leave the scene, officers are actually sharing (information) with the hospital.”
DELTA PILOTED THE APP IN 2019
The Delta Police Department is the only agency in the province already using the system, which was first established among municipal police forces in Ontario, and has been gradually rolling out throughout the Prairie provinces.
In an urgent, violent or high-risk situation, only a handful of details are sent to Surrey Memorial Hospital. Where it’s not an acute call, DPD officers complete a checklist (irritability, delusions, hallucinations, for example) and the app generates a report that goes to a medical practitioner at the hospital who can recommend apprehension under the Mental Health Act or suggest alternative care.
A spokesperson told CTV News that since 2019 they’ve slashed time spent on paperwork, standardized their reporting, improved information sharing with health-care workers and cut overall apprehensions. They used the app for 421 assessments on 331 people in 2021.
When a subject has been previously assessed with the HealthIM app, a baseline of information is available for officers, including specific de-escalation and trigger avoidance advice,” wrote the DPD in an email. “This information can assist in de-escalating a situation sooner and safer, which translates into improved care for the affected person.”
HEALTHIM MUST CUSTOMIZE THE APP
CTV News asked Vancouver Coastal Health how long it expects to take to integrate HealthIM into their system. They referred us to the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General, which acknowledged the request but never provided information.
HealthIM’s president said it will take time to not only train officers and healthcare professionals on how to use the app, but also to customize the software to suit municipal police forces and RCMP requirements for privacy and integration, as well as those of the six provincial health authorities.
“We are still in the scoping process,” said Daniel Pearson-Hirdes, who said they had not discussed a budget with the province.
Observations of pre-hospital behaviour can be lost in the transfer of patient from police to health-care worker, he said, and this way they can streamline the handoff and even avoid hospital care altogether if community support is more appropriate.
“There’s nothing that’s going to replace an officer’s professional judgment on scene,” said Pearson-Hirdes. “What this does is augment that by helping guide them through, ‘What should I be thinking about, what should I be looking for at this call?’ And (then) helping wrap that into a report that helps communicate with (health) agencies.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Premier Legault reiterates that McGill pro-Palestinian camp must be dismantled
Quebec Premier François Legault reiterated that the pro-Palestinian encampment at McGill University must be dismantled while police remain 'on the lookout for new developments.'
The kids from 'Mrs. Doubtfire' are all SUPER grown up now, and we're not OK
The adorable trio of child actors from the 1993 classic comedy 'Mrs. Doubtfire,' which starred the late and great Robin Williams, are all grown up and looking back on their seminal time together.
Police officer hit by driver of fleeing vehicle in Toronto
York Regional Police say they are continuing to search for a suspect in an auto theft investigation who was captured on video running over a police officer in Toronto last month.
Drew Carey is never quitting 'The Price Is Right'
Drew Carey took over as host of 'The Price Is Right' and hopes he’s there for life. 'I'm not going anywhere,' he told 'Entertainment Tonight' of the job he took over from longtime host Bob Barker in 2007.
Hulk Hogan, hurricanes and a blockbuster recording: A week in review of the Trump hush money trial
Crucial witnesses took the stand in the second week of testimony in Donald Trump's hush money trial, including a California lawyer who negotiated deals at the center of the case and a longtime adviser to the former president.
Video shows suspect setting Toronto-area barbershop on fire
Video of a suspect lighting a Richmond Hill barbershop on fire earlier this week has been released by police.
A Chinese driver is praised for helping reduce casualties in a highway collapse that killed 48
A Chinese truck driver was praised in local media Saturday for parking his vehicle across a highway and preventing more cars from tumbling down a slope after a section of the road in the country's mountainous south collapsed and killed at least 48 people.
'I have the will to live': N.B. woman needs double lung transplant
A New Brunswick woman suffering from sarcoidosis, a disease that limits your lung capacity, is in need of a double lung transplant.
Canadian doctor concerned new weight-loss drug Wegovy may be used inappropriately
As Wegovy becomes available to Canadians starting Monday, a medical expert is cautioning patients wanting to use the drug to lose weight that no medication is a ''magic bullet,' and the new medication is meant particularly for people who meet certain criteria related to obesity and weight.