Mobile Crisis Team
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RN John St. Jacques & Cst. Ray Yelle, NBPS
The Mobile Crisis Team (MCT) is a community-based collaborative partnership between the North Bay Regional Health Centre (NBRHC) and the North Bay Police Service (NBPS), established in order to respond to individuals or families experiencing behavioural health crises with the goal of reducing the immediate risk of danger to the individual or others.
The team consists of one NBPS officer and one Registered Nurse experienced in mental health. In some instances it may be necessary for the officer to apprehend an individual and bring them to the NBRHC Emergency Department for further assessment.
This initiative began as a 6 month pilot project, commencing on September 15, 2014, and has now become a permanent program within the NBPS. The police officer's schedule is Monday to Friday, 8 am to 6 pm and the nurse's hours are from 10 am to 6 pm with the officer.
Any occurrences involving an emotionally disturbed person is initiated through police emergency services. Once an initial assessment is complete and a safety plan devised, the team may plan a follow-up visit or involve other agencies in the community. Any occurrences that occur while the team is not operational are followed up by the team as soon as practicable.
Prior to the establishment of the program the NBPS only categorized mental illness or mental health issues as an apprehension of an individual under the Mental Health Act. Therefore, the statistical information collected by the Service was minimal.
The definition of mental illness that the MCT responds to is a recognized, medically diagnosable illness that results in the significant impairment of an individual's cognitive, affective or relational abilities. This includes mood, anxiety, psychotic, concurrent (addictions and substance abuse) and personality disorders.
The MCT provides a mobile response to individuals and/or families who identify as being in crisis and who are unable to attend community or hospital crisis services or individuals identified as in crisis and where mobile crisis services are appropriate.
Individuals assisted by the MCT at the ER has resulted in an 80 percent admission rate whether on a Form 1, withdrawal management bed or in-patient unit bed. The individuals who were not brought to hospital were met with and assisted through initiating services in the community in order to properly manage their individual circumstances.
A direct benefit impacting the NBPS is the MCT's ability to assist with the apprehension of individuals who were taken to the hospital. This has allowed officers to return to patrol duties and respond to calls for service in North Bay and Callander.
From January 1, 2015 to December 31, 2015, the NBPS responded to 2125 mental health related calls for service = an average of 6 mental health calls per day.
Due to the high number of calls and the current days of the week/hours the team operates, there has been some discussion regarding implementing a 2nd shift from 1600 hrs to 2400 hrs.