Many of us have had enough exposure to cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) training over the years that if someone needed CPR, it’s likely we could respond, regardless of the expiry date on that little white certification card. (If you’re not feeling comfortable with that statement, here’s a simple, one-minute video for hands-only CPR that can help.) In the U.S. alone, about 92,000 people are saved by CPR each year. Some are random strangers and some are loved ones; either way, we continue to train in and administer CPR because it saves lives.
Now let’s talk about what to do when a person’s mental health reaches a crisis state. In the wake of such tragedies as the Arizona, Colorado and Connecticut shootings, and with suicide deaths numbering around 30,000 per year in the U.S. (11 times that for attempted suicides), the conversation turns to prevention. We need to stop the tragedy from unfolding. But in the realm of mental illness, do you feel trained to identify the symptoms and equipped to do something to help? And what would the opportunity to have that kind of training mean to you? Continue Reading