Suicide Prevention | Police officers call for more flexibility in sharing information with the health network

(Montreal) Police forces are calling for legislative changes to promote the sharing of information by the health network concerning people in psychological distress who are often the subject of 911 calls, in order to avoid tragedies.

Representatives of the police community spoke about their reality on the second day of the recommendations and representations of the public inquiry of the Coroner’s Office on the theme of suicide, at the Trois-Rivières courthouse, Thursday.

The notions of confidentiality and professional secrecy must be relaxed, argued the captain and deputy commander of the Deputy Directorate of Territorial Surveillance at the Quebec City Police Service (SPVQ), Julie Marcotte.

“When there is an emergency, the information comes and goes, there is no problem,” explained the commander. But when the danger is not immediate or for future interventions, the police come up against a refusal from health professionals, lamented M^me Marcotte, in front of the coroner M^e Julie-Kim Godin.

The duty of confidentiality that applies to the care teams “hampers” the work of the agents when they regularly intervene with the same people in distress. Most of the time, they returned to the hospital, the police not knowing what to do, described the manager.

Drawing inspiration from the Ottawa police, the SPVQ nevertheless set up a forum for exchanges with the region’s CIUSSS and a crisis assistance service in order to establish the actions to be taken with recurring cases. But unlike the Ottawa model, the Quebec police force comes up against more constraints in terms of confidentiality.

Health workers are also “very cautious” about publicly promoting their collaboration with the SPVQ, mentioned Ms.^me Marcotte, who presented the story of a lady with whom the police intervened 43 times between 2020 and 2022.

We must legitimize the sharing of information in a “worrying situation” in order to “reassure” these employees “who are currently afraid” of transmitting certain details, pleaded Mr.^me Marcotte.

The “tipping point”

An officer from the Longueuil agglomeration police department also proposed a reflection on the relaxation of the law on access to information to allow information to be shared without consent, before arriving at an urgent situation. and dangerous.

It is necessary to add in the law a notion of transition, “of tipping point”, affirmed Ghyslain Vallières.

“At the tipping point, this pivotal moment, I think we are very justified in saying: we are at such high risk that we do not have to wait for the emergency under the crisis”, declared Mr. Vallières, who came describe the RÉSO initiative of the Longueuil police to help the most vulnerable.

“Do you have to wait for the person to want to commit suicide before giving them support and accompaniment? Why ? We have already lost there, ”he continued.

Often, the establishments make a restricted interpretation of the law, unlike the experts, specifies Mr. Vallières.

The Quebec police also proposes to modify the law on the protection of persons whose mental state presents a danger to themselves (LPP), which is “too restrictive”.

The LPP allows, at the request of a doctor, a court order for a person to be kept temporarily in a health establishment to undergo a psychiatric examination there, despite the absence of consent, because of the danger to themselves or for others.

If an intervener considers that the mental state of a person presents a “serious and immediate danger”, a police officer can, without the authorization of the court, bring him against his will in an establishment.

“The law is made for here and now. I would like us to be able to talk to each other until the treatment order, ”explained M^me Marcotte.

The coroner’s inquest covers the deaths of Mikhaël Ryan, Joceline Lamothe, Suzie Aubé, Jean-François Lussier, Marc Boudreau and Dave Murray.

Begun in 2019, the investigation is in its final stretch, after completing the factual component last fall. She first looked at the causes and circumstances of each of the deaths.

Hearings on recommendations and representations will be held until June 10. About forty witnesses will come to feed the coroner’s reflection on solutions to prevent suicide. On Friday, relatives of the deceased subject to the public inquiry are expected to share their comments.

This article was produced with the financial support of the Meta Fellowships and The Canadian Press for News.