To Save A Life

 Join our training to spot signs of suicide – and act to save lives

By Stephanie Kooistra, Spectrum Health Gerber Memorial
 
As a community health program specialist, I’m often in schools, churches and local organizations helping people address the health and wellness needs. In our communities, one issue that has become a top-of-mind concern for many families is the mental and emotional health of our loved ones.

And I’d like to invite everyone in our community to a first-of-its kind in-person training on Aug. 10 in Newaygo County that empowers people to intervene when a person is suicidal. This inaugural training session at NCRESA in Fremont is the first of additional sessions we plan to host in the near future, both in-person and virtually.

Mental and behavioral health and wellbeing are close to my heart, as it is to many people in our community. That’s why I recently worked to be certified as a trainer in a program called Question, Persuade, Refer, or QPR, a suicide prevention training program. Two of my colleagues, Erica Jordan and Jenn Kurnat, are also certified QPR trainers.

QPR is an emergency mental health intervention that teaches members of the public, professionals and just about anyone in the community to recognize and respond positively to someone showing warning signs of suicide and self-harm.

QPR is like CPR. With CPR, trained bystanders help save lives by addressing the first few critical steps: recognizing symptoms, deciding to act, starting CPR, and using an automated external defibrillator, or AED, if one is available.

Similarly, people who have gone through QPR training can recognize and respond to suicide warning signs, take immediate steps to reduce the risk of a suicide attempt and assure a referral to competent professional care.

Spectrum Health’s QPR trainings are for anyone looking to understand suicide, decrease stigma around suicide –and mental health, in general – and help and support anyone who may be having suicidal thoughts.

Through this training, you can better recognize suicidal thoughts and behaviors in others and what you can do to help save their life.

Gerber Memorial’s free in-person training is open to anyone in the community. The training is on Tuesday, Aug. 10, from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. The training will be held at NCRESA Educational Service Center, 4747 W 48th St Fremont, MI 49412.

To register, please call 231.924.3073 to register or email me at [email protected].
​You can register individually or as a group.

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