Prince George, B.C. -   First responders encounter people with mental illness every day, and now there is special training to ensure those encounters are handled in a positive manner.

Training sessions are underway in Prince George, to make a variety of first responders aware of some of the signs of mental illness. The sessions are paying off. 

Deputy Fire Chief John Lane says the training is already paying off, “One of our people responded to an incident recently and was able to recognize some of the symptoms of mental illness he was taught in this program. He was able to use the right words, and the appropriate touch to defuse the situation that otherwise would have become a confrontation.”

This type of training was one of the recommendations from a coroner’s inquest into the shooting death of Donald Mayer, a man who was killed by police   during a confrontation at the Langley hospital in 1999.

The training offered to all first responders and makes them not only aware of typical symptoms of a mental illness, but makes them aware of the resources available to help deal with the situation.

Mary Lu Spagrud, the project coordinator for the Mental Health and Policing project, of the Canadian Mental Health Association  says a community plan specific to Prince George is being developed and should be ready later this spring.  

Right now there are 20 seats set aside in each training session just for police and firefighters, and the hope is that one day all officers and firefighters will have received such training. The sessions are offered twice a month.

RCMP Constable Tobi Araki has been assigned to this project and says the simple question is, “How do  you talk to someone who is having delusions, or hallucinations?” The training gives officers  day to day skill sets that will help every day on the street.