Season 7- Episode 75

Season 7- Episode 75

Season 7, Episode 75

Risk of Going Missing – Part Two

In Part Two of our Risk of Going Missing series, guest host Jillian McConnell, a Knowledge Translation Specialist with brainXchange, speaks with Provincial Constable Dave Holmes and Registered Nurse Shawna Marshall from the Mobile Crisis Response Team, with the Ontario Provincial Police.  PC Holmes, and Shawna talk about their roles as first responders when an older adult with dementia goes missing. They discuss the programs and tools they use, like Project Lifesaver, and the support they provide to the individual and their care partners. Part One of the series is a conversation with Dr. Noelannah Neubauer, a researcher from the University of Waterloo.

Shawna Marshall, Reg. N, CPMHN (C); Mobile Crisis Response Team (MCRT), Joint Initiative Grenville County OPP; Mental Health Services, Brockville General Hospital

I am a Registered Nurse with Brockville General Hospital and hold a nationally recognized nursing specialty certificate from the Canadian Nurses Association.  My entire 40 year-career has been in Mental Health, ranging from Forensic Psychiatry to acute admissions psychiatry, and Crisis in our hospital Emergency department to the mobile team.  I started full-time on the MCRT in 2018.  In addition, alongside my OPP partner, I have taught the OPP Crisis Intervention Training course to officers since 2018.

Provincial Constable Dave Holmes #14063, Ontario Provincial Police

I began my policing career in 2014, and was assigned to the Huronia West OPP Detachment in Wasaga Beach. I quickly developed a passion for responding to mental health and crisis-related calls for service, and pursued a position with the Mobile Crisis Response Team (MCRT). I transferred to the Grenville County OPP Detachment in 2021, and was provided an opportunity to build an MCRT program. That is when I had the opportunity to work with my amazing partner, Shawna. Our team has since expanded to include our awesome partners: another police officer, PC Annie Collins, and registered nurse, Kim Brouwer.

The program has been running successfully here since that time. Over the past year, our team has been involved in over 600 calls for service, both live and follow-up, and have provided crisis supports to individuals and their families. In addition to leading the MCRT, Shawna and I also instruct police officers and community partners in Crisis Intervention Training. I am the lead trainer for the Project Lifesaver program here, a Drug Recognition Evaluator (for drug-impaired driving), and teach Standardized Field Sobriety Testing for the OPP.

Links (as mentioned in the podcast):

• Project Lifesaver International: https://projectlifesaver.org/
• Finding Your Way website: https://findingyourwayontario.ca/
• Project Lifesaver: Find a location near you: https://projectlifesaver.org/about-us/where-we-are/
• AS Ontario: https://alzheimer.ca/on/en

Links to Podcast: 

Download URL: https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/qk36adds6rdvh4ec/DD_RiskOfGoingMissingPart2_MM2_1_9t6xv.mp3

Episode URL: https://dementiadialogue.podbean.com/e/risk-of-going-missing-part-2/

Share URL: https://www.podbean.com/eas/pb-ri5kv-182ae66