S.A.V.E. Coalition offers free training seminar

By JOSH MCDONALD

Staff Reporter

The S.A.V.E. (Support, Action, Volunteerism, Education) Coalition is partnering with the Silver Valley Chamber of Commerce to present a free training seminar on suicide prevention and resiliency in our community.

The training is in accordance with National Suicide Prevention week, which runs from September 10-16.

Suicide has been trending upward throughout the United States and leaves a path of devastation in its wake.

Idaho has a higher than average suicide rate and Shoshone County ranks as one of the highest Counties in the state for rates of suicide.

“During this time, the goal of the S.A.V.E. Coalition is to train as many individuals in our community to help recognize the signs of individuals that are having suicidal ideations, and help get them the help they need,” Tara Lodi with S.A.V.E. said. “Being able to ask the question, ‘are you suicidal?’ is sometimes the most difficult part.”

The training is fairly simple and thanks in part to Shoshone Medical Center, several members of the coalition were able to receive the training and become certified to train themselves.

“Thanks to funding from the SMC Foundation, we were able to get several of our members trained in a nationally recognized gatekeepers training course teaching them how to recognize warning signs of suicide,” Lodi said. “This QPR course stands for Question, Persuade, and Refer. It’s a very simple training, that provides you resources on how to ask the question, encourage to seek help, and provides local resources available for treatment.”

The coalition has evolved and has expanded their focus to increased concerns of child abuse, domestic violence, and other tragic events.

Their mission is to “strengthen resilience and to reduce the impact of suicide, domestic violence, child abuse/neglect and other tragic events through support, action, volunteerism and education.

This event will take place Friday, September 15th at 5:15 p.m. at the Hill Street Depot.