You may have learned CPR and the Heimlich Maneuver. But can you administer First Aid in a mental health crisis? It’s easy to tell when someone might be suffering from a heart attack, is choking, or is unable to breathe. But what would you do if you met someone experiencing suicidal thoughts or behaviors?

Although millions of people have completed CPR classes, it’s actually more likely that someone will encounter a person in an emotional or mental crisis than a person having a heart attack. Mental disorders are more common than heart disease and cancer combined.

It’s for these reasons that Mental Health First Aid was started in Australia and came to the United States four years ago. The interactive, 12-hour program teaches people how to give first aid to individuals experiencing a mental health crisis situation and/or who are in the early stages of a mental health disorder.

This October the entire staff and most of the Board of NAMI DuPage has been participating in the Mental Health First Aid course at the NAMI DuPage office. The course is being taught by certified staff members of Linden Oaks Hospital and Mary Dalton, Program Coordinator at NAMI DuPage who is a trained Mental Health First Aid facilitator.

The strength of Mental Health First Aid is the 5-step action plan to help connect an individual in crisis to professional care:

Assess for risk of suicide or harm.

Listen non-judgmentally.

Give reassurance and information

Encourage appropriate professional help.

Encourage self-help and other support strategies.

After taking the 12-hour course, the Board and employees of NAMI DuPage will be certified Mental Health First Aides.

We will host future classes for our volunteers and others in 2012. To learn more about Mental Health First Aid go to:

www.mentalhealthfirstaid.org.