Lifesaving techniques taught to county residents
Participants in Mental Health First Aid training offered Wednesday add the phone numbers for the local 24-hour crisis hotline, (800) 224-0422, and the national crisis hotline, (800) 273-8255, into their cellular phones to have the numbers handy for any situations that might arise. A crisis text line also is available for mental health emergencies by texting “4HOPE” to the number 741741. (EXAMINER PHOTO | MANDY LOEHR)
When faced with a medical emergency like a heart attack, a lay person can perform CPR to provide the individual in distress with additional minutes of life until paramedics arrive on scene.
Area mental health professionals liken a new type of first aid available locally — Mental Health First Aid — to being similar to CPR, as the program enables trainees without a clinical background to provide lifesaving intervention to an individual having a mental health crisis, such as someone contemplating suicide.
“Essentially, anyone and everybody is going to encounter someone who is struggling with a mental health situation at some point, whether it’s in their professional or personal lives,” said Karey Thompson, Consolidated Care Inc. therapist and director of the Suicide Prevention Coalition of Logan and Champaign Counties.
“This gives them good information for how to approach these situations. Similar to the way people are taught CPR to help someone having a heart attack, Mental Health First Aid helps to support an individual in practical ways until they can receive professional help.”
Wednesday, a group of 30 individuals from around Logan County had the chance to participate in Mental Health First Aid training through a session presented by the Mental Health Drug and Alcohol Services Board of Logan and Champaign Counties.
They filled a class to the maximum capacity for the eight-hour session at the Mary Rutan Hospital Business Center, 21 Hunter Place. Throughout the day, they learned a single five-step strategy that includes assessing risk, respectfully listening to and supporting the individual in crisis, and identifying appropriate professional help and other supports.
Mental health conditions covered in the session included anxiety and depressive disorders, suicide, non-suicidal self-injury, substance use disorders and psychosis.
Co-presenter Stacey Logwood, who led the sessions with Consolidated Care Inc. outpatient therapist Julie Wilcox, told participants that practicing these strategies in the classroom setting and on their own will help them feel prepared when they come across these situations in their own lives.
“I want you to feel empowered as a first-aider, and not afraid,” said Logwood, who serves as the director of community development for the MHDAS Board. “We want to increase your comfort level when encountering these types of situations because you know the questions to ask and what to do.”
Read complete story in Thursday’s Examiner.
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