BLAINE, Minn. – (June 25, 2015) – First Aid training for medical emergencies has been well established for centuries. Burns, cuts, broken bones—there’s training for how to react in ways that help. Depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts—these medical conditions are tougher for the average person to recognize and respond to appropriately. But there’s help coming in Anoka County in a nationally recognized training, called Mental Health First Aid.
Mental Health First Aid, created in Australia in 2001, is led in the United States by the National Council for Behavioral Health and state departments in Missouri and Maryland. Their vision is for Mental Health First Aid to become as common as CPR and First Aid training.
In Anoka County, the training will be offered through a partnership of two groups, the Minnesota chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness and the Mental Wellness Campaign for Anoka County, a nonprofit group of consumers, providers and advocates.
NAMI and the Mental Wellness Campaign for Anoka County are planning for eight, eight-hour Mental Health First Aid trainings in the next 18 months. Six will focus on mental health for youth. Two sessions will emphasize adult mental health.A training on children’s mental health will be offered Aug. 24 to Anoka-Hennepin School District staff.
A second session, called Mental Health First Aid for Public Safety Professionals, is targeted to law enforcement personnel. It will be hosted Sept. 8 at the Anoka County Sheriff’s Office in Andover.
Anoka County Sheriff James Stuart fully supports the training.
“Everyone will benefit from a training that creates better understanding of mental illness,” said Stuart. “For law enforcement officers, the class will help them identify underlying issues and assist them in deescalating incidents without compromising safety.”
NAMI has 13 people in Minnesota who can conduct the training. The instructors are trying to reach as many people as possible, according to Kara Bennett, outreach director at NAMI Minnesota.
“It’s important to increase the number of adults who are trained to help, and especially help adolescents, ages 12 to 18,” said Bennett. “It’s hard to be a teenager and have an emerging medical condition. It’s even harder if it’s a mental health concern. Sensitive adults, who kids feel safe talking to, can make a real difference.”
The Mental Wellness Campaign for Anoka County is championing the Mental Health First Aid training because of recent research findings. They worked with Wilder Research to delve into trauma and resilience and produced a white paper that looks at a basic overview of trauma and its impact, principles of trauma-informed care or support, and effective approaches to promote recovery.
The white paper, released in 2014, found lasting concerns from traumatic experiences, especially those in childhood, such as natural disasters, accidents, illnesses, bullying, domestic violence, and child abuse. More adverse childhood experiences create more risks factors for disease, disability and eventually early death. The paper is available at www.mwcac.org.
One of the keys to improving outcomes for people with mental illnesses, according to Chris Harnack, co-chair of the Mental Wellness Campaign for Anoka County, is to increase awareness and reduce stigma in the community.
“Mental health is as important as physical health—that’s our motto,” said Harnack. “First Aid for the mind should be as valued and accessible as First Aid for the body.”
Feedback on the training in other parts of the state has been positive.
“I think this training is integral to my work,” wrote a Hennepin County nurse after completing the course. “The training demystified the fragility of working with suicidal patients and gave me the tools to do my best to respond most effectively and to connect them to appropriate resources.”
Twice within a few weeks of completing the training, the nurse was able to use her refined skills. Once it was to help a young woman who was threatening again to harm herself and her boyfriend. Another time, it was to help an actively suicidal person. The nurse was able to call on other resources in health care, human services and law enforcement for comprehensive, coordinated and effective responses, she said.
