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Community Mental Health Emergency Response


Community Mental Health Emergency Response

By Doug Tennant

Photo by Doug Tennant


Originally published in the North Renfrew Times on Wednesday July 1, 2020


Imagine if you called 911 and they asked “police-ambulance-fire-mental health”? Imagine if the local Mental Heath Crisis team was deemed emergency services. These are the imaginings of Jackie Lee Agnew and others and they are gaining traction in these changing times.

According to the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), www.camh.ca, 20% of us would normally experience a mental health problem or illness in a given year. During the current pandemic, approximately 22% of Canadians between the ages of 18-59 are experiencing moderate to severe anxiety.

Our friends, neighbours and family members, maybe even you, are having a rough go in life. When rough times become a crisis/emergency due to mental wellness it is becoming clear that the emergency response needs to be from a mental health team and not a crew of emergency responders with pepper spray, handcuffs, batons, tasers and guns. Mainstream media report about Canadians being brutally beaten, handcuffed or even shot dead during what are termed “wellness checks”. I cannot understand how the outcome of a wellness check for someone in a health emergency can result in a visit to the hospital for physical wound care or death caused by emergency responders who are sent to help?

The changing times regarding mental wellness/health is a complex issue. The intended resolve for anyone in a mental health emergency should be that they are responded to by trained mental health professionals who, with other public agencies supporting them, are able to help them through the emergency without beating them senseless or killing them. Mental health professionals must be an integral part of our community response to those experiencing an emergency. When you have a fire in your kitchen, you need firefighters. When you are having a stroke, you need paramedics. When you are in a mental health emergency, you need mental health professionals to respond, safely intervene and get you transported to a health care facility where you can be properly cared for – not in a pool of blood on your bathroom floor with pepper spray all over you while you struggle in handcuffs.

We should not keep on doing what we have been doing when responding to mental health emergencies. Just as we pivoted quickly to deal with the pandemic, we must, as a civil society, change with the times and address mental health emergencies for what they are – emergencies. It is a life and death issue that needs funding and thoughtful focused change.

Emergency response for our family, friends and neighbours during a mental health emergency needs to be done safely for everyone involved and ultimately in a health care facility.

The times they are a-changin’ - be a part of the change!


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