Family questions response to 911 call made by Winnipeg man who later died by suicide

Concern over 911 system and mental health calls The death of a Winnipeg man is sparking concern over how the 911 system handles mental health crisis calls. Josh Crabb reports.

This report contains details referencing suicide some viewers may find distressing.

A Winnipeg man who died by suicide earlier this month called 911 hours earlier, leaving his family questioning whether the system is equipped to triage calls from people in a mental health crisis to connect them with the appropriate care.

Dan Rentz, 45, is being remembered for his kindness, fearlessness and love of working out. He enjoyed music and watching movies with his daughter.

“He was truly impressive,” said Lily Rentz, Dan’s 19-year-old daughter, who described her dad as a friendly giant due to his height and personality. “Something that he taught me a lot was being kind and being open to people and accepting and loving.”

Dan had been living with mental health challenges and used substances to try and cope.

He was found dead in the early morning hours of Nov. 6 after a fire at his home on Logan Avenue.

“We’re just looking for answers,” said Lily. “We want to understand why no one was sent out.”

Lily and her mom Sheena Paterson, Dan’s ex-partner who remained close with him, have been told by other family members he called 911 hours earlier, according to information the family received from Winnipeg police.

“Dan called the police at 10 p.m. that night,” Sheena said. “He said that they had failed him and they told him that they would not be sending a car.”

The Winnipeg Police Service (WPS) declined an on-camera interview but said in an emailed statement it reviewed Dan’s call to 911.

“It has been determined that proper procedure was followed within the policy of the Communications Centre,” the WPS said. “While this incident was tragic, no information was provided during his interaction with the call taker to indicate an emergency requiring a response from our units.”

The 911 Communications Centre receives tens of thousands of calls each year with check well-being the most common reason for dispatching officers.

Lily and her mom Sheena question whether those policies and procedures are designed to identify and respond to people in crisis to help connect them with the appropriate care.

Last year the WPS rolled out a pilot project called Alternative Response to Citizens in Crisis (ARCC) with Shared Health’s Crisis Response Centre. The program works by partnering a specialized mental health clinician with officers when citizens are experiencing a mental health crisis.

Police said in this case since no call for service was entered, ARCC wasn’t a consideration. The program also remains a pilot, operating Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., depending on resources. Dan called outside those hours.

It’s an issue researchers with the Pew Charitable Trusts examined last year in 911 call centres in the United States where they identified a lack of resources.

“We do know that it does occur, unfortunately, from time to time and can result in someone not being flagged as being in crisis,” said Julie Wertheimer, project director of Mental Health and Justice Partnerships with The Pew Charitable Trusts.

Researchers sent surveys to 233 911 call centres in the U.S. and they got responses from 37 agencies in 27 states.

They found few call centres have staff with behavioural health crisis training to inform how they navigate 911 calls and dispatch responses and that there were limited options to dispatch specialized responses to crisis calls.

They also found that while most responding agencies recorded calls as mental health and/or substance use-related in data management systems there was a lack of data sharing to help policymakers understand the scope of behavioural health crises in their communities.

“This was an initial effort to fill that gap and understand how 911 call centres in the United States are functioning now which is key to understanding on how to build out an even more robust crisis response system,” Wertheimer said.

Lily hopes speaking out will improve the system here for others in need of help.

“I want to make sense of the situation,” Lily said. “I’m just trying to piece together what that night was for him.”

Lily and her mom Sheena said they’re not trying to lay blame, acknowledging the family is also feeling a lot of guilt about what happened.

Lily has put in a request with the WPS under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act to hear the 911 call her dad made.

She said officers have been helpful in assisting her with filling out the required documentation.

To make matters worse since his death, people have looted the house Dan had been living in. A metallic green mountain bike with an octopus on it he built for his daughter is among several items the family said are missing.

If you are in crisis and looking for support other than the police, you can call 211 to be connected to the appropriate agency or go to mb.211.ca to find a list of available crisis resources.

Help is also available from the Manitoba Suicide Prevention and Support Line at 1-877-435-7170 or by visiting reasontolive.ca.