On Thursday, Sept. 12, the Tri-State Canine Response Team held its second suicide prevention training in one week in Westampton, New Jersey.
Every 11 minutes, somebody dies to suicide according to statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In honor of September being suicide prevention month, and the Cherry Hill Public Library’s ongoing mental health series, the library partnered with Tri-State Canine Response Team to provide QPR (Question, Persuade, Refer) training to the public.
The training focused on the QPR method of prevention, which stands for “Question, Persuade and Refer” and is compared to CPR training: This is something that can save a life.
Although the Tri-State Canine Response Team primarily focuses on responding to crisis situations and events with canine support (support dogs), they became certified to teach QPR training in 2019, after being called to respond to three student deaths by suicide at Rowan University. One of the team members had asked her son, who was a student at the school, what he would say to a friend if he found out they were suicidal.
“(The team member’s son) said, ‘I’d tell them don’t do it, it’s stupid,'” explained Janice Campbell, founder and president of the Tri-State Canine Response Team. The team member had gone to the board and asked if there was anything they could do to prevent suicides rather than just going in after the fact.
“We really are a crisis response team, … but if it saved one police officer, one first responder, one student, the answer was yes, we could do it,” Campbell said. Three team members were certified that year and the team has been providing educations and trainings ever since.
Within the first year, they certified more than 1,500 police officers and responders.
During the presentation, they emphasized that you cannot put the idea of completing suicide into someone’s head just by asking the question: a person is either already having these ideas or it is not something they want to do.
When feeling this way, it can be hard to express verbally about this, and often times people are waiting for someone to ask the question: “Are you thinking of killing yourself?” or to have this conversation with someone.
However, many people are not equipped to ask or don’t know what to say or do after. The presentation was geared towards preparing the attendees for these kinds of situations.
The presenters shared that there are often signs when someone is thinking about ending their life. There can be direct verbal cues, like someone tells you that they are going to do it or are thinking of doing it, indirect verbal cues saying things like, “I’m tired of life, I just can’t go on,” or “My family would be better off without me.” There could be behavioral cues, like previous suicide attempts, acquiring a gun or stockpiling pills, having a sudden change in mood if someone is depressed, or putting personal affairs in order or giving precious items away.
There may also be situational clues or life circumstances, like a major stressful life situation, like being fired from work or being expelled from school, the death of a spouse, child or best friend, especially if it’s by suicide.
During the presentation, the presenters stressed the importance of being able to ask the question, whether directly or indirectly and gave the participants time to practice asking the question of whether someone was thinking of ending things. For example, asking if someone has been unhappy lately, or if they wished they were dead.
“Be prepared that if they say yes that you know where you can take them, and go with them that day to get help,” Campbell said. “Just don’t ask the question and say, ‘off you go.’ You have to be prepared to say, what the answer’s going to be, how you’re going to persuade the person to go with you.”
She noted that it is a team effort to save a life, and sometimes you may not be the best person to ask or start the conversation and cautioned that these kinds of conversations must be done with genuine interest and authenticity, in a nonjudgmental way– not in a callous way like, “You’re not thinking about suicide, are you?”
They also gave examples of how to invite a loved one to get help, such as “What can we do to keep you safe right now?” or “Will you go with me to get help?”
The last part involved knowing the resources available, such as early intervention support services that are in the area, or calling 9-8-8.
Those interested in QPR training can contact the Tri-State Canine REsponse Team at info@tri-statecanineresponse.org.
The next event is Monday, Sept. 30 at the Cherry Hill Public Library on “Understanding Trauma” presented by Dr. Nuwan Jayawickreme, a senior staff psychologist at the Center for Emotional Health. Register for the event at chplnj.org.
