Interior Crisis Line Network
How does it work?
The Interior Crisis Line Society provides 24/7/365 empowering support, skilled assessment, crisis de-escalation, suicide prevention and life-saving intervention to the people in the Interior Region of BC over the phone and via chat Thursday to Sunday 5-9pmPT/6-10pmMT.
The network is funded through the Interior Health Authority and established in 2012. It is an innovative and collaborative approach that operates as one cohesive centre with satellite sites in various communities across the Interior.
In this way, the Interior Crisis Line Society is able to provide consistent and responsive service across the Region operating within internationally recognized better practices in crisis de-escalation, skilled assessment and collaborative safe planning. And more fully engage in impactful community development and added quality of care that comes from having satellite sites. The Interior Crisis Line has contributed to thousands of people across the region being trained in critical suicide prevention, assessment and de-escalation skills which strengthens our Region.
The satellite sites of the Interior Crisis Line Network are in Cranbrook, Kelowna, Trail, Vernon and Williams Lake through our committed community-based partner agencies - CMHA Kootenays Branch, CMHA Vernon Branch, CMHA Cariboo Chilcotin Branch, Kelowna Community Resources, and Trail FAIR Society.
Collectively, we;
Have 262 years experience providing life-saving and life-changing crisis line service to people in the Interior
Train over 100 volunteers across the region every year - providing critical crisis de-escalation training and experience for people who are currently/studying to become social workers, police, emergency responders and others working in the mental health services
Saved over $2 million in hospital and urgent mental health response and over $10 million in police attendance during the pandemic by de-escalating and diverting interventions through strengths-based collaborative safe planning
Launched a Wellness & Equity Initiative (the first of its kind in Canada) to support the ongoing wellness of our Crisis Line Responders and ensure equitable access to crisis line service to everyone in the Interior
The Interior Crisis Line Society mission is making life-changing and life-saving crisis line services accessible to everyone in the Interior Region of BC. Our vision is to be a safety net under every service and community accessible to catch people and provide immediate short-term emotional support, skilled assessment, crisis de-escalation, suicide prevention and intervention as needed - to remind them that they matter and they are not alone.
When someone in the Interior Region reaches out to a crisis line service, they are routed to the first available Crisis Line Responder who works with them to identify the issue of concern, explore options and work together to develop a safety plan or a self-care plan.
The Interior Crisis Line Society works with the communities it serves to recruit volunteers, train staff and continuing to ensure people get the support they need, when they need it.
The Interior Crisis Line Society also supports calls from anyone in the Interior across six services;
1) Interior Crisis Line (1.888.353.2273/C.A.R.E.)
2) Interior Crisis Line chat service
3) Provincial Suicide Line (1-800-SUICIDE)
4) Provincial Mental Health Support line (310-6789)
5) National Suicide Line (1.888.456.4566)
6) National Suicide Text service (text 45645, 1pm-9pmPT/2pm-10pmMT)
What does C.A.R.E. stand for?
The network is founded on the core principles of C.A.R.E.;
Confidentiality - Call information is kept confidential within the Interior Crisis Line Network and is only disclosed in cases where there is a risk to health and safety. An example being in the case of emergency intervention needing to be dispatched to support a caller. Calls may be monitored or recorded for quality assurance.
Accessibility - The service is available 24/7/365 across the Interior Region. We strive to create an open, non-judgemental service that is safe for all to contact. We review our processes through the perspective of the social determinants of health and supporting a low-barrier, equitable service. This is ingrained in the screening, training and ongoing support of the Crisis Line Workers and the management and direction of the service.
Research - Evidence, research and better practices in suicide prevention, intervention, crisis de-escalation are incorporated in service-delivery protocols and training.
Empowerment - The goal of the service is to provide truly empowering support by working collaboratively with the caller to build on strengths, identify resources, and create safety plans that are relevant and effective.
How many calls do you answer?
Interior Crisis Line Society answers 4 times as many calls since it first launched in 2012. Since the launch in February, 2012, Crisis Line Responders have provided 3.2 million minutes of support with 620,000 minutes of those occurring last year alone!
In 2021/22 Crisis Line Workers in the Interior provided;
Life-saving and life-changing support in over 38,000 calls (a 40% increase over the previous year)
Over a 620,000 minutes of support including empowering emotional support, effective crisis de-escalation, skilled suicide assessment prevention/intervention
Over 80,000 resources linking people to much-needed supports in their local communities
We also know that out of these 38,000+ calls 96% of callers responded positively to the empathy provided by their Crisis Line Worker and 92% improved their coping skills during the call with only 2% of calls requiring intervention. That relates to over 37,000 contacts guided to less invasive interventions, developing collaborative strength-based safe-plans, and being effectively de-escalated.
What kind of calls do you receive?
The service handles a wide range of calls from those seeking resources in their community to those desiring to self-manage their mental wellness to those struggling with suicidal thoughts requiring skilled assessment and sometimes intervention.
In many rural areas, the Interior Crisis Line Network is the only resource available after-hours aside from the Emergency Department. By reaching out to the Interior Crisis Line Network, many people are able to navigate their mental health, addictions or crisis concerns without needing to engage emergency support.
We know that almost 1/2 of all people use the service to self-manage their mental health concerns by reviewing or developing their self-care plan rather than escalating and requiring more intrusive interventions.
Health-care workers, First Responders and other care professionals always use the service for confidential support.
We’re available if you’ve had a bad day or the worst day.
Are Calls Kept Confidential?
All contacts (phone or text) are confidential except in situations where there is risk to health and safety at which point additional services or supports may be required to support the health and safety of the caller.
In calls where there is the potential for imminent or present risk, crisis line responders will engage intervention. Wherever possible, we will engage in “least invasive intervention” depending on the services available in the community.
In the situations where a caller is unable/unwilling to provide location, technology is used to support help arriving for them.
Calls may be monitored or recorded for quality assurance.
Terms & Conditions of the Service
Use of the Interior Crisis Line services (offered through 310Mental Health Support, 1800Suicide, ICLN 1.888.353.2273, CSPS 1.800.784.2433 and chat or text identified as “The Service”) is bound by the following Terms & Conditions.
Please read the following statement before using this service. By using the Service, which is operated by the Interior Crisis Line partner agencies, you agree to the terms and conditions described below. If you do not agree to the terms and conditions, you may not use the Service.
NATURE OF THE SERVICE
NOTE - your participation in the services does not constitute mental health care or treatment and does not constitute an attorney-client relationship or a therapist-patient relationship or any other sort of professional or therapeutic relationship. The service is not a substitute for professional health care. If you believe you are experiencing a medical emergency, call your doctor or 9-1-1 immediately.
The Interior Crisis Line Service (“we”, “our”, or “us”) and its employees, crisis responders, service providers, agents or any other entities with whom the Interior Crisis Line Service has contracts are not responsible for any decisions, or results of the decisions that you make while, as a result of, or after participating in the Service. This includes whether you choose to seek or not seek professional care, or to modify or terminate specific treatment that you are currently receiving based on the information provided by the Service. You are responsible for all decisions you may or may not make during and after using the Service and assume all risk related to those decisions.
PRIVACY AND SECURITY AND THE COLLECTION OF DATA
We are committed to providing you the best possible service at all times. Calls, Chats and Texts to the Interior Crisis Line services may be monitored or recorded for training and quality assurance purposes.
We take your privacy and security very seriously. Security controls, including encryptions and authentication, are in place to ensure the protection of your information. We will not share or disclose your personally identifiable information; however, we do reserve the right to disclose any personal information to the authorities as required or permitted by law, as well as to authorize the engagement of law enforcement or medical services to initiate a safety check or intervention.
In addition, we collect and store information, including the content of contacts occurring on the Service, which we use to create, or permit a third-party researcher subject to a strict confidentiality agreement to create anonymized aggregate information, that does not identify individual users, for the purpose of quality assurance and suicide prevention research aimed at contributing to the advancement of crisis intervention services. Data from contacts collected, stored and used will follow the principle of minimal risk. Data will be collected, stored and used only for the purpose of facilitating better help to clients, ensuring quality assurance and for clearly defined research objectives that we determine could contribute to the development of better practices in suicide prevention using new technologies. An annual review of data being collected and retained will determine if the data collected will be deleted permanently or retained for a limited time for one or more of the purposes stated in this policy.
We may share this aggregated, non-personally identifiable information and content of contacts occurring on the Service, with our partners, researchers or third-parties for these purposes. Information allowing for the identification of individual users will not be associated with this aggregate information.
Despite these procedures, the internet is an imperfectly secure environment and the Interior Crisis Line service cannot guarantee protection from intruders or interceptors. You agree to use the Service and submit information at your own risk. You agree that the Interior Crisis Line service has no liability regarding unauthorized access to the Service.
ADDITIONAL DISCLAIMERS
The Service is provided on an “as is” basis and “as available” basis. The Interior Crisis Line Service and its service providers do their utmost to maintain a high standard of care. However, the Interior Crisis Line Service and its service providers expressly disclaim all warranties of any kind, whether expressed or implied and make no warranty that the Service will: A) meet your requirements; B) be uninterrupted, timely, secure, or error-free; or C) meet your expectations. The foregoing disclaimers of liability apply to all damages or injury, including those caused by any failure of performance, error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect or delay in operation or transmission, whether for breach of contract, tortious behavior, including negligence, or any other cause of action.
The Interior Crisis Line Service and its employees, volunteers, crisis responders, service providers, agents or any other entities with whom the Interior Crisis Line Service has contracted shall have no liability for 1) actions taken by you or a third party, or not taken by you or a third party, or 2) the unavailability of the Service, and you agree to indemnify us and hold us harmless for damages arising out of A) your use of the Service, B) your breach of these Terms, C) your violation of the law, D) claims asserted by third parties that you are in breach of these Terms or E) information provided by your through the Interior Crisis Line Service. Without limiting the foregoing, in no event shall the Interior Crisis Line Service be liable for any special, incidental, consequential, exemplary or indirect damages.
MODIFICATION OF TERMS, CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY
These Terms and Conditions may be modified from time to time. Any changes will be effective immediately upon posting. Each time you access this Service you will be presented with the current Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy for acceptance. You must agree to the modified terms to use this service.
BC’s Crisis Lines are funded by BC Mental Health and Substance Use Services, a program of the Provincial Health Services Authority, (PHSA).
We are authorized to collect personal information for the purpose of providing crisis and support services to individuals under s. 26(c) of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA). Your information will be used for this purpose, and to ensure the quality of our services. For more information about your privacy, visit http://www.phsa.ca/privacy or email: privacyandfoi@phsa.ca.