News

Prairie du Chien, WI – With suicide being one of the leading causes of death among 15 to 35-year-olds, awareness and prevention are both extremely important. Crossing Rivers Health’s Behavioral Health team and Crawford County Public Health and Human Services are partnering to provide suicide awareness and prevention, or QPR, training.

QPR stands for question, persuade, and refer; three simple steps that anyone can learn to help save a life from suicide. QPR is a free, one-hour training for people without a professional mental health background focused on recognizing the signs that someone may be considering suicide, establishing a dialogue, and guiding the person to seek professional help. It 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.

“Our small towns can be hugely impacted by the loss of one person – especially when it’s something preventable, such as death by suicide,” said Lacie Anthony, Licensed Professional Counselor at Crossing Rivers Health. “We invite anyone interested to attend QPR to learn three simple steps to help save a life,” Anthony added.

QPR trainings are open to everyone, with four upcoming sessions scheduled as follows:

• Thursday, November 10 at 5:30 p.m., McGregor Public Library
• Tuesday, November 15 @ 9 a.m., Prairie du Chien Memorial Library
• Thursday, December 8 at 5:00 p.m., Prairie du Chien Memorial Library
• Thursday, January 19 at 5:30 p.m., Gays Mills Community Commerce Center

Anthony shared, “Our goal is to make it just as common for people to be trained to prevent death by suicide, as it is to be trained in life-saving skills like CPR and the Heimlich maneuver.” To learn more, and to register for a session.