Recognizing 20 years of COAST
A call for better care is answered
(November 2017) Twenty years ago, the tragic killing of a Hamilton toddler became a catalyst for change in the way mental health care is delivered in Hamilton. The horrific death of young Zachary Antidormi initiated a unique relationship between the city’s police service and its experts in mental health care. It’s a relationship that has flourished into a program so successful it’s being studied and duplicated in communities around the world. A laudable achievement, with a very sombre history.
“We are always reminded of the tragedy that led to COAST,” says Terry McGurk, the registered nurse who launched the Crisis Outreach and Support Team (COAST) in 1997. He describes the partnership between St. Joe’s and the Hamilton Police Service as an inter-dependent relationship.
But that was not always the case.
The elderly woman living beside the Antidormi’s had a long history of erratic behaviour, even before the young family moved in. Their own concerns about their neighbour’s behaviour led to more than a dozen calls to police. Officers who responded to those calls had no record of the woman’s history. “They would listen, maybe take notes and leave, saying there was nothing they could do,” says Lori Triano-Antidormi, Zachary’s mom.
Inaction changed on March 27, 1997 when the neighbour, in an extreme state of mental illness, repeatedly stabbed Zachary, claiming his two-and-a-half year life.
In the weeks and months that followed it was revealed there was a lack of proper record keeping within the police service, officers had a poor understanding of the mental health act, and many officers feared they would be judged poorly by health care workers if they brought people in crisis to emergency departments. There was no communication or collaboration between police and health care.
The development of COAST has rectified that by pairing mental health workers with police officers who respond to crisis line calls 24 hours a day, seven days a week. They work with adults and youth. A Mobile Crisis Rapid Response Team (MCRRT) has also been established for any 911 calls seeming to have a mental health component. Client call histories are shared between police and COAST to give first responders a better picture of the individual in crisis. In addition, all members of Hamilton police undergo special Crisis Intervention Training through St. Joe’s.
In the last two decades community agencies have joined the COAST network in an effort to ensure the right care is provided in the most-timely manner.
The calls are steady and the service is ever evolving, but its origin is a clear reminder of how far we’ve come.