MANDEVILLE, Manchester — One driver’s absence from work left the Manchester Health Department immobile for more than an hour after it received reports of a mental health patient facing danger as he walked along the 80 kilometre-per-hour Winston Jones Highway, just outside Mandeville town centre.

This reporter saw the mental health patient walking on the continuous white line between the hard shoulder and eastbound lane on the highway in the vicinity of Marshall’s Pen, about 1:52 pm Tuesday.

The mental health team was contacted but it took an hour and 22 minutes to respond because the assigned driver, the
Jamaica Observer was told, was reportedly not at work.

Halfway through the sequence of events, CVM TV Manchester correspondent Orando White turned up on the scene, negotiated with the mental health patient for several minutes, and succeeded in getting him off the road safely.

Director at the Southern Regional Health Authority (SRHA) Michael Bent, while lauding White’s action, said the reported absence of a driver leading to a delayed response is a concern and that the authority has to, at times, deal with similar circumstances.

“What we have is three mental health units and each bus has a driver. So I don’t know if it is a situation where the driver didn’t turn up to work this morning [and] then we have to find an alternative to call out someone,” he said.

“It happens for different situations, not just for mental health response. There are times we will have somebody who was scheduled to come for work and don’t turn up, you have to now pull somebody because you already have assignments for different drivers,” he added.

Bent, who oversees health services in Manchester, Clarendon, and St Elizabeth, said mental health is taken seriously by SRHA.

“Mental health is one of the very serious conditions that we are seeking to address… We take it seriously and we are happy, too, that in this particular situation the citizens actually assisted. And that is the sort of corporation that we need, because the team might not be able to respond to all these calls,” he said.

“It was so good that persons, Mr White and yourself, were able to identify a situation, call for help, and also work with the patient before the mental health team could come. This is the sort of partnership that we really embrace, and that is what we have been preaching through Mental Health [Awareness] Month,” he added.

He is imploring citizens to, where possible, assist and alert the mental health team to those in need of urgent aid.

“Mental health is just like any other illness, and we want everybody on board. It is not just for the trained persons in health, but also communities and citizens… There are times when you might be looking at a crisis with another situation. Once the community gets involved, then it can help to minimise or help us to make our jobs better,” Bent told the Observer, adding that SRHA has embarked on activities to promote mental health awareness.

“Last week we had a series of activities in all three parishes. We went to Bethlehem Moravian College in St Elizabeth — we had a session down there. We had one in Black River, we had one in Clarendon, we also had one in Manchester,” he said.

“And we didn’t just limit it to outside persons, we also had sessions for staff because health-care delivery is high stress and we also need to ensure that our staff members’ mental health is taken care of as well,” he added.

In Manchester the mental health unit can be reached at 876-797-9157 or 876-772-5207.

A mental health patient walking on the continuous white line between the hard shoulder and eastbound lane on the high-speed Winston Jones Highway in Mandeville on Tuesday. (Photo: Kasey Williams)

A mental health patient walking dangerously on the continuous white line between the hard shoulder and eastbound lane on the Winston Jones Highway in Mandeville on Tuesday. (Photo: Kasey Williams)

A member of the Manchester mental health unit assists the patient into a bus along the Winston Jones Highway in Manchester on Tuesday. (Photo: Kasey Williams)