Earlier this fall, the people in southeastern Florida received news of Hurricane Matthew’s path and began preparing for the potential catastrophic storm that was heading their direction. For those that prepared for the storm, their loss was lessened compared to those that failed to prepare.
The topic of suicide is never an easy conversation yet, it’s a topic that must be addressed. Muskegon county’s suicide statistics are higher than most counties in the state of Michigan and unless we address suicide prevention, the statistics might not change.
Recently, the high school staff received training on a suicide prevention strategy titled: QPR. This strategy has had positive results in reducing suicide attempts and completions. For background purposes, the staff received statistics specific to our county. Some of the statistics are presented below:
QPR involves three action steps to be taken by a person in attempt to assist a person who might be considering drastic measures:
Question
Persuade
Refer
The slides below will provide you with a glimpse into a portion of the training the R-PHS staff received. The information debunks suicide myths followed by the QPR intervention.
