Cluster 6: Suicide Prevention Training

Highly Recommended Actions

Offer counseling and prevention services in schools.

Ensure teachers receive training (and refresher training) on identification of childhood depression and suicidality, as well as how to respond appropriately.

Training of all school personnel in suicidal symptoms.

Assist schools in identifying risk factors and protective factors in suicide prevention.
Expand gatekeeper training (e.g., to the staff of community service organizations and corporations).

Ensure that university training programs prepare all school mental health professionals with the skills to prevent, assess risk, and intervene effectively with suicidal students.

Other Recommended Actions

Prepare clergy, parents, and others who are the first line of defense, to respond to the needs of someone who is in crisis.

Conduct "IS PATH WARM" (suicide warning signs) training in retirement and adult communities.

Train counselors, psychologists, psychiatrists and other mental health professionals to address the trauma issues.

Customize or adapt suicide prevention training for various populations and organizations.

Establish loss teams for outreach to aid the victims advocates on the scene.

Develop awareness and training programs that recognize that school-site faculty and support staff, not law enforcement or emergency personnel, are often the first responders to student behavior.

Train ALL Medical personnel to handle the despair of terminally ill patients (including veterans and the elderly) which currently is left to the untrained/overwraught caregiver/family member who oneself is having coping problems.

Develop training for law enforcement officers who rescue missing children, primarily runaways to assess risk factors for suicide and provide resources for children and families.

Educate employers on ways they can address the burden of depression in the workplace.
Specific training at school for students at each grade level (pre-k-20), teachers, administrators, and all school personnel including custodians, bus drivers, cafeteria staff etc.

Mandatory continuing education on suicide prevention for professionals who work with the public.

These actions were identified as a result of a collaborative effort between the Florida Statewide Office of Suicide Prevention, the Florida Suicide Prevention Coordinating Council, and the Florida Suicide Prevention Coalition representing stakeholders throughout Florida, and in conjunction with FMHI/USF.