Pharmaceuticals Anonymous

Saturday, September 5, 2009

Canada: Police and jail guards will get more training to recognize mental illnesses

From Nova Scotia, Canada:
"Police and jail guards will get more training to recognize mental illnesses and how to deal with people afflicted with them, Justice Minister Ross Landry said Friday.

The province commissioned an expert panel last year to look at the phenomenon called excited delirium and what role it could play in in-custody deaths, to examine the risks of using stun guns and other restraints on people in that state, and to recommend how law enforcement officials should deal with those people.

Mr. Landry said the most significant recommendation in the eight-member panel’s new report is ensuring that front-line justice workers are trained to recognize people with symptoms of excited delirium, or as the panel suggests calling it, autonomic hyperarousal state."

Link to PDF report:
http://gov.ns.ca/just/public_safety/_docs/Excited%20Delirium%20Report.pdf