HONOLULU — The state Department of Health Injury Prevention Program, in partnership with the Suicide Prevention Task Force and the Hawai‘i SPEAR (Suicide Prevention Education Awareness Research) Foundation of America, is offering suicide prevention workshops statewide, a news release said
HONOLULU — The state Department of Health Injury Prevention Program, in partnership with the Suicide Prevention Task Force and the Hawai‘i SPEAR (Suicide Prevention Education Awareness Research) Foundation of America, is offering suicide prevention workshops statewide, a news release said Tuesday.
This training is geared to “gatekeepers” who may come in contact with individuals who are considering suicide.
The two-day suicide prevention training, called Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training, prepares individuals to recognize and respond to those in crisis. Workshop participants learn to use a suicide intervention model, thus reducing the suicide risk. The workshop also covers information to link people with community resources.
Counselors, teachers, social workers, clergy, crisis workers, law enforcement, health workers, and anyone concerned about family members and friends are invited.
Suicide continues to be an urgent public health issue in Hawai‘i:
— Suicide is the second leading cause of injury death in Hawai‘i.
— Hawai‘i loses 120 lives to this tragedy each year (about one every three days), and another 860 are hospitalized or treated in emergency departments after attempting to take their own lives.
— Nationally, over 30,000 people take their lives every year.
Scheduled ASIST workshops will be held on the following days:
Kaua‘i, May 7-8
Participants must register and pay at least a week in advance and commit two full days (7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.) for the workshops. For registration, cost information and meeting locations, call 733-9320. This information will also be posted under the health events section of the DOH web site at www.hawaii.gov/health.
