Nearly 30 Northwest Vista College faculty and staff participated in LivingWorks Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST) interactive workshop in suicide first aid on Jan. 9-10.
ASIST teaches participants to recognize when someone may have thoughts of suicide and work with them to create a plan that will support their immediate safety.
Although ASIST is widely used by healthcare providers, participants don’t need any formal training to attend the workshop – anyone 16 or older can learn and use the ASIST model.
NVC’s Migdalia Garcia, Adriana Cantu, Sgt. Jill Sprowls, and Eva Fernandez provided the training. The STEM-PLUS grants team provided funding for food and snacks.
NVC Advocacy Director Lisa Black said “Thomas Presley (of NVC Math & Engineering) was a one-man recruiting machine and reached out directly to 30+his colleagues which seems to have really impacted faculty response.”
Lisa added “Congratulations to the training team for their commitment to creating a suicide-safer community. It is not an easy course to prep for or deliver. Thank you all for your willingness to support the college and community and to provide LIFE SAVING awareness and competence. You all made it look easy and I know it is not!!! Looking forward to the ripple effect of how this investment of time and intention will help someone in need.”
Since its development in 1983, ASIST has received regular updates to reflect improvements in knowledge and practice, and over 1,000,000 people have taken the workshop. Studies show that the ASIST method helps reduce suicidal feelings in those at risk and is a cost-effective way to help address the problem of suicide.
