With a delusion that she had worms and bugs crawling through her brain, the girl had previously tried to surgically remove them. Now, the mother feared she was going to try again.

“When we arrived there, the officer went into the bedroom and removed scalpels and knives which were close to the young girl, who was sleeping at the time,” recalled Stefan. “When I was ushered into the room, a computer was on showing how to perform brain surgery. Who knows what would have happened if we were not called to the scene?”

MCITs respond to calls involving people in mental health crises, including thoughts of suicide or self-harm threats, distorted or psychotic thinking, anxiety, overwhelming depression and temporary breakdowns.

The officer and the nurse will assess an individual's specific needs, provide intervention and support at the scene, de-escalate the situation and ensure the person is connected to appropriate services.

Watch St. Joseph's MCIT At Work

The MCIT provides a secondary response to 9-1-1 calls involving people experiencing a psychiatric or emotional crisis that requires intervention. The MCIT program operates in 14 of the Service’s 17 Divisions. In 11 and 14 Divisions, police are teamed up with St. Joseph’s Health Centre; in 51 and 52 Divisions with St. Michael’s Hospital; in 41, 42 and 43 Divisions with The Scarborough Hospital; in 12, 13 and 31 Divisions with Humber River Regional Hospital; in 54 and 55 Divisions with Toronto East General Hospital and in 32 and 33 Divisions with North York General Hospital.