Advice from a psychiatric nurse now a 911 phone call away in remote parts of Saskatchewan | 24CA News

Saskatchewan residents who name 911 throughout a psychological well being disaster, and RCMP officers making an attempt to defuse a doubtlessly lethal confrontation will now have the ability to obtain recommendation from a psychiatric nurse, the Mounties say.

Following a profitable, year-long pilot program, 4 registered psychiatric nurses are actually accessible Monday to Thursday from midday to midnight, in addition to 24-hour protection Friday to Sunday, on the RCMP’s operational command centre (OCC) in Regina, which handles  911 calls from residents in want of police service in small cities and rural areas throughout the province.

Permanent funding is being offered by the Saskatchewan Health Authority, the Mounties say in a news launch.

The pilot undertaking was modelled after a system within the United Kingdom, the place psychological well being professionals with entry to medical information are positioned inside regional hubs to each advise officers on the road and reply calls from the general public.

“We are extremely happy to see our project come to fruition,” stated Jocelyn James, supervisor of the OCC.

“We worked hard to adapt a European model to the reality of Saskatchewan’s remote regions, and to develop processes that allow two very different professions to work together. It was all well worth it. Today, the four nurses are fully trained, they have spent the last three weeks gathering experience and they are ready for the holiday season – the season during which, unfortunately, we see an increase in mental health calls every year.”

During the 12-month pilot:

• 99.8 per cent of callers reporting a psychological well being disaster agreed to talk with the nurse.
• 80 per cent of the callers assessed by a nurse instantly acquired referrals to be admitted to a psychological well being and/or habit service,
• 71 per cent of the callers assessed by a nurse prevented being pushed by a police officer to an emergency division to get a analysis and/or remedy.

The nurses can have entry to callers’ well being information and historical past, not like the RCMP. If there’s an RCMP-involved disaster the nurses can verbally focus on a caller’s well being document, however police, medical and private data can be saved non-public.

In 2020 alone the RCMP acquired 4,640 psychological well being calls to its centre. During the primary six months of the pilot undertaking its acquired 2,474 calls from folks with psychological well being points.