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Manitoba puts $450K toward app to help RCMP navigate mental health emergency calls
The provincial government is putting nearly half a million dollars toward an existing app for police that it says will help RCMP better navigate mental health emergency calls.The app, called HealthIM, lists several different indicators and will recommend the best course of action to get the person in distress the help they need. (Riley Laychuk/CBC)The…
The provincial government is putting nearly half a million dollars toward an existing app for police that it says will help RCMP better navigate mental health emergency calls.
The provincial government is putting nearly half a million dollars toward an existing app for police that it says will help RCMP better navigate mental health emergency calls.
Manitoba Justice announced Thursday it will funnel more than $450,000 from the federal proceeds of crime fund toward HealthIM, a system already in use by some police forces in the province responding to people experiencing psychological crises.
Police are often the first to arrive at such calls, and the app provides risk-assessment advice to officers on mobile devices or in squad cars that helps improve outcomes, said Manitoba's justice minister.
“This system supports a more empathetic and evidence-based response to citizens suffering from unmanaged mental health challenges and protects the public, medical staff and the person in crisis,” Cliff Cullen said in a statement.
The new funding will help get all Manitoba RCMP detachments connected.
HealthIM has been in use by eight police forces in Manitoba, including in Winnipeg, Brandon and on First Nations, beginning last summer. A pilot program ran at several detachments from July 2019 to June this year.
The pilot found:
- HealthIM was used 4,087 times.
- 54 per cent of mental health calls police responded to were women.
- The largest age group was age 18 to 30.
- 14 per cent of calls were youth.
- Involuntarily apprehension decreased from a rate of around 68 per cent to 28 per cent.
- Police hospital wait times went from 4½ hours to about one one hour and 40 minutes.
The app guides officers through a number of questions to help them gauge behaviours or actions of the person at the centre of the emergency call. The app then gives recommendations about what the officer should do, including connecting the person to community-based resources or taking them to hospital.
The app is meant to help lower the risk that a person in crisis harms themself or others, the province said.
The deputy chief of the Winnipeg Police Service said HealthIM ensures officers are focused on the person in crisis and providing them with the most appropriate care.
“Data accountability within the program provides real-time insight that assists in whole system alignment that improves outcomes and overall patient care,” Gord Perrier said in a statement.
The commanding officer for Manitoba RCMP said HealthIM is already supporting officers who are attempting to de-escalate volatile encounters.
“This additional funding will ensure that more of our officers will have access to HealthIM to help them better handle these difficult calls for service,” Jane MacLatchy, who is also assistant commissioner, said in a statement.
Manitoba Justice said the expansion of the app will make Manitoba the first to have HealthIM in use by police across a province.
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