ROCK SPRINGS – Just as people can take a CPR class to help save a life through direct medical intervention, Wyoming residents can help save the life of someone suffering a mental or emotional crisis by signing up for a free Question, Persuade and Refer (QPR) course.
Wyoming leads the nation in the number of QPR-certified trainers available to teach others about the life-saving tactics of a suicide prevention course, according to 2014 data provided by the QPR Institute. That’s the highest saturation of trainers in the U.S.
Wyoming now has the capacity to respond to the growing demand for quality training in proven suicide prevention education thereby reaching the aspirational benchmark of training 1 in 10 adults in Wyoming in suicide risk recognition and response. People across Wyoming are stepping up to teach this course to help save lives from suicide.
-Terresa Humphries-Wadsworth, Ph.D, PMO Statewide Director for Suicide Prevention
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Suicide-Prevention Training
The Wyoming Department of Health and the PMO have built this infrastructure to support suicide prevention training efforts across the state. Since 2013, more than 23,000 Wyoming residents have completed a suicide prevention training.
“The Wyoming State Suicide Prevention Plan included a goal of training 10 percent of Wyoming’s adults in within five years and we’ve done that,” Humphries-Wadsworth said. “But the work is far from done. Wyoming continues to be near the top for suicide deaths per capita in the nation.”
Just as people trained in CPR and the Heimlich Maneuver help save thousands of lives each year, people trained in QPR learn how to recognize the warning signs of a suicide crisis and how to question, persuade, and refer someone to help, Humphries-Wadsworth said.
QPR training takes less than two hours, and as a public-level gatekeeper, people will be able to recognize the warning signs of suicide, know how to offer hope, know how to get help and save a life.
Possible Candidates and Signups
Candidates for the QPR course include parents, friends, neighbors, teachers, ministers, doctors, nurses, office supervisors, human resource managers, police officers, advisors, caseworkers, firefighters and many others who are strategically positioned to recognize and refer someone at risk of suicide.
People in every Wyoming community are encouraged to contact their local PMO community prevention professional to help organize a QPR training. In Sweetwater County, that’s Cassandra Crumpton (307-389-7364) and Rick Hays (307-389-7229).
“We’re happy to offer QPR to anyone who asks,” Crumpton said. “Together, we can help build a better safety net in Sweetwater County and help to take care of our friends, our family and our neighbors.”
For more information about QPR, visit www.qprinstitute.com; for more information about the PMO and its prevention goals, visit www.pmowyo.org.
For more information about suicide prevention in our area check out sweetwaterpmo.org.
