Mental Health First Aid training offered Oct. 5 in Luverne

According to the National Alliance for Mental Illness, one in five people experience some form of mental illness in a year.
It may be depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress syndrome, substance abuse disorder or something more involved.
And encountering someone in mental or emotional crisis is more likely than responding to someone having a heart attack.
Since it requires a different first aid than a bandage, CPR or calling 911, local health professionals want people to understand how to help someone with this type of emergency.
A free training will be from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 5, at Sanford Luverne for employers, businesses and anyone interested in helping.
 “We are seeing increasing instances related to mental health concerns,” said Tammy Loosbrock, senior director at Sanford Luverne, which is organizing the event.
“Our goal with this training is to give many people in our community the tools necessary to intervene much earlier.”
Sanford Luverne received a grant from the Minnesota Hospital Association to sponsor the Mental Health First Aid training, partnering with Southwestern Mental Health Center, Rock County Sheriff’s Office and Southwest Health and Human Services.
The Sheriff’s Office has been working with Sanford Luverne for many years on mental health issues, so Sheriff Evan Verbrugge said he’s glad to see the formal training.
“Our deputies deal with mental health all the time,” he said. “Mental health is starting to become more of an issue across the state if not the nation.”
He said law enforcement’s primary goal is to identify a mental health issue versus a criminal issue.
“These people really don’t belong in jail, but if it's a domestic incident or violent act, you charge them with some criminal act,” he said, adding that substance abuse is often part of the problem.
“Unfortunately we are arresting them, because when someone is out of control, who is the first place you call?”
If they suspect a mental disorder, deputies bring individuals to the local emergency room to be evaluated. From there they’re often sent to Avera Behavioral Health in Sioux Falls.
Verbrugge said his office has worked with Sanford to transport these cases by ambulance, rather than squad car, in order to shift the response to medical instead of criminal.
“If we need to send a deputy along to help, we do, but we don’t feel it’s appropriate to transport them in a squad car,” he said.
Verbrugge said he hopes the Oct. 5 session is well attended, because it’s in the interest of the entire community to learn appropriate — and compassionate — responses to mental health crises.
The free session is for anyone interested in learning how they can help friends, family members, co-workers, neighbors or customers in need.
Michelle Majeres, prevention coordinator for Volunteers of America, will be the presenter.
She said Mental Health First Aid is a public education program about risk factors and warning signs of mental illnesses and building understanding of their impact and common supports.
Participants learn how to offer initial help during a mental health crisis and connect a person to the appropriate resources for care.
At the same time, participants do not take on the role of mental health professionals.
First introduced in the United States in 2008, the Mental Health First Aid course has been taken by hundreds of thousands of people from a variety of backgrounds.
Today, approximately 400 people receive this training daily.
To register for the free Mental Health First Aid training course, call 507-449-1272 by Sept. 23.
This training session is free of charge and is limited to 30 participants.