This month, the Medicine Hat Police Service (MHPS) will join other police agencies in the province to implement the use of Health IM, a mobile application that connects emergency responders with critical data on individuals suffering from unmanaged mental health challenges and/or substance abuse issues.

To facilitate access, all MHPS police officers have been equipped with cell phones connected to the app, putting valuable information like an individual’s mental health history, possible triggers, and de-escalation strategies right at their fingertips. This empathetic and evidence-based approach to emergency mental health crisis response has proven to increase safety of law enforcement personnel, improve crisis outcomes, promote more effective oversight, and reduce the impact on policing resources.

Health IM is a provincially funded software solution and consists of four (4) components to assist law enforcement during crisis situations:

• A pre-response safety briefing providing previously obtained information on de-escalation techniques and triggers as well as a brief synopsis of critical safety factors;
• A mental health risk screener to provide a rapid on scene evaluation of risk using clinically validated algorithms to assist in evaluating the risk of harm;
• Inter-agency communication that allows for the viewing of previously attended mental health calls by other policing agencies and allow for the wireless transmission of data to the regional hospital including a digitized form 10, under the Alberta Mental Health Act, and;
• Reporting and analytics, providing timely access to key metrics.

Thanks to additional financial resources donated by the Brandon Niwa Legacy Fund – ‘The Beej Project’, through the Medicine Hat College Community Engagement Office, costs of the technology required for the MHPS to launch Health IM have also been covered.

“Providing officers with access to real-time and relevant information on individuals suffering from mental health and substance abuse issues will increase safety when officers respond to situations with people in crisis,” says Joe West, Interim Chief of the MHPS. “We would like to thank Medicine Hat College and the Niwa family for their support.”

Media Contact:

Insp. Brent Secondiak
Support Services Division
Medicine Hat Police Service
Ph: 403-529-8412