Mental Health First Aid For Public Safety

Mental Health First Aid USA is an 8-hour course that teaches a 5-step action plan encompassing the skills, resources, and knowledge to help an individual in crisis connect with appropriate professional, peer, and self-help care. Participants learn the unique risk factors and warning signs of mental health problems, builds understanding of the importance of early intervention, and, most importantly, teaches individuals how to help someone in crisis or experiencing a mental health challenge.

ABOUT THE PROGRAM
The course is taught to police, first responders, corrections officers, and other public safety audiences around the country. Mental Health First Aid for Public Safety provides officers with more response options to help them deescalate incidents and better understand mental illnesses so they can respond to mental health related calls appropriately without compromising safety. Approximately 20,000 public safety professionals have taken the course, including at police academies in Philadelphia, DC, Seattle, and numerous smaller and rural departments.

“Public Safety Officers, regardless of rank or position, may find themselves confronted with a mental health crisis. My Mental Health First Aid training helped me save a life, and regular incidents serve as reminders of how public safety officers fall back on their training in times of crisis.”
– Captain Joseph Coffey,
Rhode Island Municipal Police Academy
Mental Health First Aid National Trainer

“What struck me most about Mental Health First Aid is the interest it generates among people who don’t have a direct connection to the mental health field. This is a program that can move us beyond usual constituencies to truly build a healthy community.”
-David Johnson, CEO, Bert Nash Center, Lawrence, Kansas

WHO CAN BE A MENTAL HEALTH FIRST AIDER?
 Law enforcement
 Corrections officers
 Other first responders
 911 Dispatch Staff
 Human resources professionals
 Business leaders
 Nurses and other primary care workers
 School and college workers
 Faith community leaders
 Caring citizens

To see who is already providing the course in your community, visit www.MentalHealthFirstAid.org.

For class registration: Click Here