Ballarat police and nurses to join forces in special unit

Speaking at the launch of the PACER unit today, Inspector Dan Davison said the initiative would help officers in divvy-vans who regularly have to transport patients to hospital, where they face lengthy wait times and cannot respond to other call-outs involving crime.

“Having clinicians on board is a real win for us,” he said.

“We as police officers find ourselves all the time being a jack of all trades ... we’re not the experts.

“Police can (now) request the unit when responding to any situation where someone requires mental health treatment.”

Every week, Ballarat police are called to jobs involving mental health sufferers, many of whom are suicidal.

But it’s hoped the PACER unit, consisting of a clinician and a police officer in an unmarked police car, will improve mental health support for these people.

Ballarat Health Services psychiatric nurse Samantha Canty, who will team up with police in coming weeks, said the unit will allow her to reach patients quickly and help relieve pressure at Ballarat Base Hospital.

“People will be treated at home in their own environment with family and loved ones to support them,” she said.

“It will prevent more presentations to our emergency department and wait times we often see occurring in our emergency department that are busy with a lot of other illnesses you see there.”

PACER units have already been launched in Melbourne and other regional centres such as Geelong and Bendigo.

They were first developed in 2007 after authorities realised they needed to support mental health sufferers more effectively.

“Historically, police have always thought we are it for everyone in every situation,” Inspector Davison said.

“We really know now that is not the case. It’s been said before, we can’t arrest our way out of problems, and we need to really work really closely with our partner agencies.”