Sask. RCMP makes psychiatric nurses permanent after successful pilot

The Saskatchewan RCMP has permanently added four psychiatric nurses to its communications centre in an effort to help callers suffering mental health crises.

The project was first tested last year, with two nurses joining the communications centre for a pilot project made possible through funding, personnel and support provided by the Saskatchewan Health Authority.

After a year of very positive results, the RCMP announced the project has been made permanent and the number of nurses has been doubled to four.

During the year-long pilot, the RCMP said 99.8 per cent of callers reporting a mental health crisis agreed to speak with one of the nurses, and 80 per cent of those callers assessed by a nurse “immediately received referrals to be admitted to a mental health and/or addiction service.”

The RCMP further reported that 71 per cent of the callers the nurses assessed managed to avoid being driven by a police officer to an ER for diagnosis or treatment.

According to a statement by the RCMP, one caller said speaking to a nurse was “the best thing that has ever happened to me.”

Jocelyn James, manager of the RCMP communication centre, praised the program and its results.

“We are extremely happy to see our project come to fruition,” James said in a statement. “We worked hard to adapt a European model to the reality of Saskatchewan’s remote regions, and to develop processes that allow two very different professions to work together. It was all well worth it.

“Today, the four nurses are fully trained, they have spent the last three weeks gathering experience, and they are ready for the holiday season – the season during which, unfortunately, we see an increase in mental health calls every year.”

The RCMP communications centre is located in Regina, and receives more than 350,000 calls annually, the RCMP said. At any given time, there are between six and 12 operators on duty, along with one psychiatric nurse.