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Contact: Faith Northland

With suicide being one of the leading causes of death among 15 to 35-year-olds, awareness and prevention are both extremely important. The Driftless Region Mental Health Coalition and the Prairie du Chien School District are partnering to provide suicide awareness and prevention, QPR training.

All community members are invited to attend a FREE interactive QPR session on Wednesday, May 31 from 6:00-8:00 p.m. at Prairie du Chien High School Little Theater. Featured speaker, Ryan Nesbit founder of Alive and Running Iowa, is a certified trainer of QPR’s industry-leading approach to suicide prevention.

According to the QPR Institute website, “The QPR mission is to reduce suicidal behaviors and save lives by providing innovative, practical, and proven suicide prevention training. The signs of crisis are all around us. We believe the quality education empowers all people, regardless of their background, to make a positive difference in the life of someone they know.”

During this 2-hour training course, Ryan covers how to ask the suicide Question, how to Persuade someone to get help, and how to Refer them to help. All attendees will take home a QPR booklet for future reference. He also covers statistics, warning signs, and openly shares his own suicide loss and personal suicidal ideation that he’s experienced in the past.

QPR is not a substitute for professional assistance, but it can be a critical tool to save lives – and it's something that anyone can learn to do.

To learn more, and to register for the free session, visit crossingrivers.org/events.