A new digital tool designed to help police respond more effectively to mental-health and substance-use crises is now being used by RCMP detachments across the East Kootenays, including the Golden-Field detachment.
The system, known as HealthIM, provides officers with a structured screening tool that helps assess a person’s mental state during crisis calls and determine the most appropriate response.
Using a mobile device, officers answer a series of guided questions about behaviour, emotional state and potential risk of harm. The system then helps identify whether someone may be at risk of harming themselves or others and suggests next steps, such as connecting the individual with healthcare services or transporting them to a hospital for assessment.
Information gathered through the assessment can also be securely shared with healthcare providers before the person arrives at a hospital, allowing medical teams to prepare and respond more quickly.
The rollout in the region began Feb. 25 and includes RCMP detachments serving Golden-Field, Cranbrook, Kimberley, Creston, the Columbia Valley and Elk Valley.
Police and provincial officials say the goal is to improve coordination between law enforcement and healthcare providers while ensuring people in crisis receive appropriate care.
Officers are frequently the first to respond when someone in the community is experiencing a mental-health crisis, particularly in smaller communities where specialized services may not always be immediately available.
“The HealthIM app will greatly improve our communication with interior health,” Sgt Mitch Mercier, Golden-Field RCMP Detachment Commander stated, “With improved communication, the person in crisis will spend less time in our custody and get the appropriate medical assessment required. As the detachment commander, I will be able to track the amount of time our members are out of service while waiting at the hospital for the person to be seen.”
HealthIM is intended to give officers a clearer framework for assessing those situations while improving safety for the person in crisis, responding officers and healthcare workers.
The technology is already being used in several other parts of British Columbia, and early results suggest it may help improve outcomes.
More than 10,500 police calls in B.C. have used the system since it was introduced in other regions of the province. In Prince George, the number of mental-health apprehensions dropped 42 per cent within a year after the tool was adopted. In Delta, police reported hospital wait times for mental-health calls were reduced by an average of 20 minutes.
Supporters say those results highlight how improved communication between police and healthcare providers can help reduce unnecessary hospital admissions and ensure people receive the right care sooner.
The system was developed through partnerships between policing agencies and healthcare organizations and is being expanded to communities across the province as part of broader efforts to improve responses to mental-health crises.
Developed in Kitchener, ON, the province has invested more than $2 million dollars in the system that’s already being implemented in other municipalities across Canada.
Minister of State for Local Governments and Rural Communities Brittny Anderson welcomed the rollout of the new system in the East Kootenays, noting that rural communities often rely on police as first responders during mental-health emergencies.
“Anytime we can provide better tools to support our RCMP officers and local healthcare workers when they’re responding to mental-health crises, that’s a positive step for communities across the East and West Kootenays,” she said.
For communities like Golden, where RCMP officers are the first to arrive at a crisis scene, officials say tools like HealthIM are intended to help police better assess complex situations and connect people in crisis with appropriate support.
