How mental health workers and police in Thunder Bay are diverting crisis calls from the ER and jail
CBC
A program involving police, the hospital and mental health workers in Thunder Bay, Ont. is seeing success in its approach to mental health crisis calls.
The Integrated Mobile Police Assessment Crisis Team (IMPACT), launched at the start of 2021, consists of four full-time mental health workers and a rotation of specially-trained police staff.
The team, which provides 24-7 service, aims to divert mental health calls away from 911 and direct people in crisis to community agencies that can best meet their needs.
A summary report of the program's first two years, prepared by Lakehead University's psychology department, was released this week showing IMPACT received 2,700 calls during that time.
About 64 per cent of those calls were for mental health services, and the same percentage of people were able to stay in the community to access support, rather than go to the emergency department or jail.
"They were able to be supported in community with family, friends, a good wellness plan, safety checks from our crisis line, perhaps accessing our safe beds, which we have now at CMHA, so the results are really promising," said Jennifer Hyslop, chief executive officer of the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA)'s Thunder Bay branch.
Having highly-trained crisis response workers who can de-escalate situations and determine people's needs has proven to be effective, she said. It has also given the officers on scene more confidence in handling these situations with care.
About 13 per cent of last year's calls were from youth. Although there were fewer calls for service overall in 2022 than in 2021, there were more mental health calls to police last year, "suggesting that as the program is evolving and becomes better known, the team may receive more appropriate calls for service," says the report.
In both years, 30 per cent of calls to IMPACT resulted in emergency department visits, and three per cent of users were brought to jail.
"When officers spend time waiting at the hospital, it puts more strain on the already overburdened health care and law enforcement sectors. By reducing the time officers spend waiting at the hospital, IMPACT has led to measurable cost savings.
"Meanwhile, people in need are getting appropriate services from the correct service provider," said Insp. Derek West of the Thunder Bay Police Service's community outreach branch in a media release Tuesday.
More than 688 visits to the emergency department have been diverted so far this year because of the team's efforts, said Lisa Beck, director of trauma, ED and critical care at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre.
However, when people do need to visit the emergency department, the "support and presence of the IMPACT team … provides reassurance and improves the experience for the patient," she said in Tuesday's media release.
Lakehead University's report indicates there haven't been a lot of repeat clients accessing the program, which suggests they were able to get the right support at the right time, Hyslop said.
When long-time journalist Cornelia Naylor picked up the first copy of her newly printed community newspaper this week, it wasn’t something she had ever expected to do.
The province's police watchdog is investigating the circumstances surrounding the death of a woman in Toronto Sunday.
Toronto police say a collision involving several vehicles in the city's east-end left one driver in life-threatening condition Sunday.
A church service in Stratford, P.E.I., brought together Christmas traditions from across the globe on Sunday.
On an extremely cold day, many people would prefer to stay home, cozy up under a blanket, and put on the TV, radio, or a favourite podcast.
In an era of Ring doorbells and No Soliciting signs, breaking the evening silence of a suburban London street can sometimes feel like a radical act.
For years, oil tanker traffic has been prohibited off the waters of northern British Columbia in order to protect environmentally sensitive coastlines from disaster.
Cape Breton organizations that give out clothing to people in need are having trouble keeping their closets full.
Gabriel Plourde’s introduction to the music world came when he was nine, and a character in a Legend of Zelda game played a type of flute called an ocarina.
A TTC streetcar has derailed following an early morning crash with a car at a busy downtown Toronto intersection, said police.
This First Person article is the experience of Itrat Anwar, a newcomer from Bangladesh who now calls Steinbach, Man., his home. For more information about CBC's First Person stories, please see this FAQ. You can read more First Person articles here.
James Benesh was so interested in researching an online hockey draft, he ended up with one of the largest-known collections of hockey books and eventually being called a hockey historian.
A recent market and fundraiser showcasing Palestinian-owned businesses in Hamilton, including new start-ups by people from Gaza who now call the city home, was met with “incredible” support, organizers say.