(image credit - CFJC Today)

By Michael Reeve

CAR 40 IMPROVEMENTS

‘A step in the right direction’; New Car 40 enhancements move city toward needed 24/7 support

Dec 2, 2022 | 4:08 PM

KAMLOOPS — The Car 40 program in Kamloops will be bolstered to three nurses and three officers moving forward to help respond to people suffering a mental health crisis.

Councillor Bill Sarai has been fighting for an increased Car 40 presence in the city for years and called Thursday’s (Dec. 1) announcement a small step forward.

“Past council and this council with the mayor and Councillor (Dale) Bass, we have been pushing for Car 40 enhancements in hours and coverage for the last four years. To have 12-hours-per-day, seven-days-a-week is a step in the right direction. Is it the whole piece that we wanted? No, but it’s a initiative that they have moved forward on,” said Sarai.

The new Integrated Crisis Response teams will operate between 8:00 and 8:00 every day. Those hours were selected using RCMP statistics, something Sarai would like to see.

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“My biggest concern is the stats that they are using. Is it province-wide stats they are using for the average calls or is it a Kamloops-specific stat that they are showing. I would like to see that,” said Sarai.

“We don’t shut down emergency rooms when there are slower times in the day. Mental health issues and mental health challenges for people can happen at any time and we need that appropriate response coming to that house,” added Kamloops North-Thompson MLA Peter Milobar.

While the program is coming to Kamloops, smaller communities in the surrounding area have been left out of the announcement.

“What this is demonstrating is the erosion of overall health services in the rural areas that we have seen over the past five years. This is really bringing it to a head. Now you are seeing the smaller centres wanting it, understandably. The worry now is were is IH going to find the nurses to expand,” said Milobar.

Despite the announcement, questions remain about how fast the new positions will be able to be filled in an already depleted health care field.

“This announcement very much, quite frankly, kind of feels like trying to turn the noise down of all the calls of everyone for expansion of services,” stated Milobar. “The intention of extra resources is welcome, but the 24/7 is what the community has been looking for the better part of five years now.”

Sarai was also quick to note that the Car 40 program won’t be effective if the help stops when they drop the person off at the hospital.

“We also have to look at once people are helped by these teams, there has to be a follow-up. They can’t just be dropped off at the hospital and allowed to come back out. There has to be some follow-up on, ‘Yes we did intervene. What is the next step?'” said Sarai.