MATES in Construction recently visited Mount Gambier to hold two training sessions which taught people valuable information regarding suicide prevention and intervention.
MATES in Construction field officers Patrick Kukla and Marilyn Sheffield held a general awareness training and a safeTALK session, which were funded by the Country SA Primary Health Network.
“We were initially, and still are, responding to a spike in the number of suicides in the (Limestone Coast) region,” Mr Kukla said.
“It’s a fairly documented issue in that area and we felt a responsibility to come down and contribute to the existing work that was going on down there.
“We just thought we could play a role in supplementing that work and hopefully add to the number of resources that are down there to help bring the number of suicides down in the area.
“We’re about prevention, we’re about early intervention, we’re about the idea that we can equip people with some basic skills that others can build on and hopefully save lives from there.”
The 45-minute general awareness training session was held for the community in conjunction with the Suicide Prevention Network.
The session provided general awareness about suicide statistics in Australia, the size of the problem and helpful resources.
An overview on the signs and indicators to be aware of when someone is struggling was also provided, with a particular focus on when people are at the higher end of stress and not coping.
“The idea behind the general awareness training is to just get people thinking about the signs they’re looking for and how to respond to it, even at a very basic level,” Mr Kukla said.
The safeTALK session was a half-day LivingWorks course which recognised the best practice regarding suicide prevention, delved into what to do when indicators were recognised and how to ask the question about suicide.
Mr Kukla said the safeTALK session gave people practical skills, taught them how to identify the issue, how to intervene and connect the person to help and safety.
MATES in Construction will visit the Limestone Coast again in the near future.
