Thank you to the witnesses for participating in our study.
We have heard from many indigenous youth that hospitals are ill-equipped to deal with attempted suicides, and in many cases they sit there for hours and hours and hours, waiting to see a mental health professional. Once they see them, they are given medication. It doesn't seem as if there's follow up. They're sent off on their own.
Can you describe how you feel the program should work after an individual is released from the emergency room? Can you describe what you'd like to see happen? Obviously it's not happening. As Shannon mentioned earlier, they're left to their own devices, and sometimes, or in most cases, it's not a good situation.