Suicide Prevention & Intervention Training
ASIST
ASIST - Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training
First Aid through ASIST: Appropriate intervention during the crisis of suicide
First Aid training has become a familiar concept in Western society, because we know that, when an emergency happens, skilled professionals aren’t always the first ones on the scene. But if there is some level of emergency-handling skills distributed throughout the general public, when an emergency happens, the people whose lives are at risk are more likely to get the assistance that they need. This can save lives.
ASIST is just like First Aid and its focus is specifically on suicide. ASIST is also a way of training people to have the skills they need to stay alive while the net is dragging their lives, and hopefully get free of it all together. There is a great need for this kind of training.
The ASIST program aims to:
- Reduce attitudinal barriers which hinder the ability to be direct and comfortable with suicidal situations
- Dispel myths about suicide
- Identify the indicators and assess suicidal risk
- Provide people with skills to intervene when someone is at risk of suicide
- Build collaborative resource networks for suicidal people
ASIST is a Canadian gatekeeper program developed and managed by Living Works. In Australia the training program is facilitated by Lifeline in Melbourne with trainers based throughout the country.
The Northern Territory delivers more ASIST workshops per population than any other State or Territory in Australia.
This is possibly due to a number of reasons:
- Anglicare NT have played a major role in supporting the ASIST network of trainers over many years
- There is a great demand for this training by workers and local organisations who are requiring the confidence and skills to work with people at risk of suicide.
- The NT has the highest rate of suicide, an equally high rate of suicidal behaviour and the issues in the NT are challenged by geography, isolation and the difficulties faced by people living in remote communities and town camps.
- There are few options of support around suicide and mental health, especially in remote communities and therefore the “gatekeepers” who might be the night patrol workers or the youth workers require the skills to support people until further professional support can be found.
Course information
ASIST is offered as a 2-day interactive workshop and is delivered by local trainers. The course is suitable for workers, volunteers and family who wish to learn more about how to reduce the immediate risk of a suicide and increase the support for a person at risk. Also, Train the Trainer courses are delivered across Australia for people who wish to become ASIST trainers. This course is a 5-day intensive and requires a commitment from workers and organisations that new trainers will use their skills to deliver workshops.
Contact
For more information about training in Alice Springs or Tennant Creek contact LPP on (08) 8950 4608 or 8950 4609 or Lifeline Alice Springs on (08) 8953 1250. You can also visit Living Works at
www.lifeline.org.au/learn_more/livingworks
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