Suicide is a growing problem within our military and within the culture in general. The World Health Organization reports that in 2012 over 39,000 people in the United States died by completed suicide. That equates to 107 people every day, or 4-5 people each and every hour of the day! The Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral John Greenert, recently stated that preventing suicide, one of his three highest priorities, is an operational readiness issue. In order to proactively address this pressing issue, CREDO Southwest offers two training programs provided by Living Works, Inc. Living Works is a suicide intervention training company. Started in 1983, Living Works is committed to creating suicide-safer communities.

To learn more about Living Works, visit their website here.

The first of the two Living Works programs we offer is called safeTALK. safeTALK is a three-hour, suicide-alertness training program. Participants in safeTALK learn how to effectively recognize when someone around them might be thinking of suicide. They learn how to activate a “suicide alert” using the “TALK” steps: Tell, Ask, Listen, and KeepSafe. Having recognized that thoughts of suicide might be present, participants learn how to ask directly about thoughts of suicide and how to take the steps necessary to quickly and comfortably connect the person with thoughts of suicide to other life-saving help. To see a demonstration of safeTALK, click here.

The other Living Works program we offer is the Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training or ASIST. ASIST is a two-day (16 hour) program that provides participants with suicide intervention skills. Those who complete ASIST training will be ready, willing, and able to provide “suicide first-aid” - to help a person at risk of suicide be safer from the immediate threat of death by suicide. To learn more about ASIST, click here.

We schedule both safeTALK and ASIST upon request. For more information, please contact our office.