The Injury-Free NC Academy for 2015-2016 is currently ongoing. For the next several months we’ll be featuring regular updates on the suicide prevention programs and interventions being explored by our teams.
In response to a large number of deaths by suicide involving a firearm in Watauga, Ashe, and Allegheny counties, one of our teams will implement CALM (Counseling on Access to Lethal Means) a best practice means reduction program developed at the Injury Prevention Center at Dartmouth and evaluated by researchers at the Harvard Injury Control Research Center. The 90-120 minute program presented to mental health and health care professionals helps providers implement counseling strategies to help at risk individuals and their families reduce access to lethal means. Reducing access to lethal means, like large amounts of medication or an unsecured firearm, decreases the likelihood that a person will act on their decision. The team is currently looking to secure $6,000 for a train-the-trainer workshop by the developer and director of CALM, Elaine Frank. The team hopes to begin a training program for practitioners and over time see a reduction death by suicide rates in their region.
Seeing the need for additional information and data, one of our teams reviewed two best practice suicide prevention programs: QPR (Question, Persuade, Refer) for Law Enforcement and the Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS). After review and a quick survey of law enforcement and first responders they opted for the less intensive yet effective QPR for Law Enforcement and look to implement on a large scale throughout their county. Recognizing the need to have the correct partners around the table the team invited another academy team from their county to join their effort in building their QPR capacity. The coalition is currently looking at a training timeline and next steps.