Island Health and the West Shore RCMP will team up to respond to mental health callouts starting April 29.
The pairing will form the West Shore RCMP Mental Health Unit’s Mobile Integrated Crisis Response Team (MICR) and pair a frontline police officer with a registered nurse.
“There have already been so many positive outcomes with a co-responding team,” said Cpl. Lauren Ferguson, the officer in charge of MICR teams at West Shore RCMP.
Ferguson said the RCMP’s team, launched in February, became fully staffed in early April, and has shown promising results.
“I can recall several calls in the past few months where a youth in crisis was assessed in their living room. We could follow up with them and their family by providing referrals to appropriate resources,” said Ferguson.
So far, the team has attended 270 calls, and only 39 calls have resulted in apprehensions under the Mental Health Act.
The team comprises three RCMP officers who pair up with two mental health nurses provided by Island Health. They will ride together in an unmarked police car, according to Ferguson.
Because of the limited officers available, the team will have to triage what they can get to and need more resources to be able to attend every mental health call.
“We don’t have 24-hour coverage right now. That’s maybe a goal for the future,” Ferguson said.
The unit will operate from 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.
According to Ravi Parmar, MLA for Langford-Juan de Fuca, the MICR unit has a budget of $375,000.
“This would not be possible if it wasn’t for partnerships between RCMP and Island Health.”
The West Shore is one of the fastest growing areas in Canada, and having adequate mental health services is crucial, said Parmar, who also announced on Monday morning that he plans to run in the new Langford-Highlands riding for the new provicial election.
Extra mental health staff in the West Shore represents a paradigm shift in how people view mental health challenges, said Scott Goodmanson, Langford mayor.
“You have this group that can go in there and defuse a situation that stops it from becoming much worse,” Goodmanson said.
Deciding what calls the RCMP can attend will be where the skills of Shae Mackenzie, a registered nurse with Island Health, will help.
“It allows people to be heard and assessed in their face of crisis and to be approached with a non-judgmental, empathetic, airy lens,” said Mackenzie.
Not every call will be immediately apparent when something is a mental health call versus a regular one. The nurses can assess things like body language and other non-visual cues.
“The most important thing is to hear their story, de-escalate and let them know they’re safe,” said Mackenzie.
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