RCMP in Thompson-Okanagan have new tool for mental health calls

Police officers around B.C., including in Thompson and the Okanagan regions, have a new tool to help with risk assessment during mental health-related calls.

The tool is called HealthIM and it launched in Okanagan, Boundary and West Kootenay regions on April 29 with detachments in the Thompson and Shuswap regions expected to get access on May 27, according to a press release from the BC Ministry of Public Safety.

“HealthIM is a key resource that supports police when they respond to people experiencing a mental-health crisis,” Vernon-Lumby MLA Harwinder Sandhu said in the release.

HealthIM helps communication between officers and mental health systems by giving officers information that would help on a mental health call like de-escalation techniques and any information about the individual from previous contact.

It gives officers information about the person’s history like trauma and whether they have been violent in the past.

The goal is to make interactions between police and people with mental illness more informed, compassionate and safe.

“This approach helps ensure individuals in crisis are connected more efficiently to the care and support they need, while improving collaboration between police and health-care partners,” RCMP Southeast District Staff Sgt. Chris Dodds said in the release.

HealthIM has been around since 2014. It’s already in use in other parts of B.C. like Vancouver Island and Prince George as well as other provinces like Alberta and Ontario.

The ministry said that HealthIM creates a 46 per cent decrease in apprehensions, a 39 per cent reduction in hospital wait times and a 37 per cent increase in hospital admission rates.

The government is spending $2 million a year to help rollout HealthIM across municipal police departments and RCMP detachments in B.C.

In the Okanagan the system is in Kelowna, Keremeos, Lake Country, Penticton, Princeton, Oliver, Osoyoos, Summerland, Vernon and West Kelowna. In Thompson and Shuswap the system will be going to Barriere, Chase, Clearwater, Clinton, Kamloops, Logan Lake, Lillooet, Lytton, Merritt, Revelstoke, Salmon Arm, Sicamous and Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc.

“The positive impact of HealthIM in other Interior communities has been evident over the past several months, and we are pleased about this expansion to the Kootenay Boundary, Okanagan and Thompson Cariboo regions,” Interior Health CEO Sylvia Weir said in the release.