SafeTALK trains Airmen to be suicide alert

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Kalee Sexton
  • 913th Airlift Group Public Affairs

LITTLE ROCK AIR FORCE BASE, Ark. -- Airmen and civilians at Little Rock Air Force Base completed training to become Suicide Alert Helpers Sept. 16 in a course that goes a step further than the regular annual prevention training required for military members.

SafeTALK is an evidence-based suicide prevention program developed by LivingWorks, a civilian company that seeks to move beyond suicide prevention awareness to alertness and direct intervention.

It is a four-hour course designed to help participants become alert to suicide, better preparing them to connect persons with thoughts of suicide with life-affirming help. It also counts towards the annual suicide prevention training for Airmen.

“Many people with thoughts of suicide experience ambivalence, which means ‘of two minds’ in Latin,” said Susie Reece, a LivingWorks training facilitator. “They’re caught in between life and death. Our goal is to pull them closer to life.”

The program uses an acronym to remind participants to apply the TALK steps: Tell, Ask, Listen and Keep Safe. The TALK steps help participants recognize a person’s invitations for help. From there, attendees are taught how to keep that person safe and how to connect them to community resources.

Reece, who has been professionally running suicide prevention programs for the past eight years, said “suicide has been part of my whole life.”

She was inspired to get involved in this line of work due in part to her father’s suicide. He had been in the Army, which is why she says she is passionate about helping military members.

“In the general population, about 5% of people are thinking about suicide. But the rate is higher in the military,” she said.

Damaris Sullivan-Powe, the 19th Airlift Wing’s Violence Prevention Integrator and Suicide Prevention Program Manager, said there have been four safeTALK training sessions at Little Rock Air Force Base since July. First sergeants went through the training first to bolster their ability to help Airmen who may be going through a crisis. Key spouses, who support spouses of deployed members, have also participated in the sessions.

The workshop includes trainer presentations, interactive discussions and questions, thought-provoking videos and role play to practice the TALK steps.

“It’s important to offer this course because everyone needs this skillset,” Sullivan-Powe said. “Instead of being reactive I want us to be able to be proactive when we notice different signs of suicide. If we can implement the skills now, it will be a game changer.”

Sullivan-Powe said having leadership support of the program makes all the difference. Leaders at all levels, including Col. Angela Ochoa, 19th Airlift Wing commander, and Chief Master Sgt. Steven Hart, 19th AW command chief, have shown their support of the safeTALK course, she said.

“It really means a lot because suicide is a disease that people battle every day,” Sullivan-Powe said. “I’m in awe of our leadership’s embracement of the program and by all of the support I’ve received.”

The next step for Airmen who want to increase their skillset even more is a program called ASIST - Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training. The course, meant to complement safeTALK, is a two-day class that goes more in depth, teaching how to establish a collaborative relationship to work through suicide to a place of safety.

Sullivan-Powe said she hopes to have the course available to Airmen soon.

For more information on the safeTALK program or to sign up for the next training session, contact Sullivan-Powe at (501) 987-4505.