Suicide Prevention

E8 - National Guidelines for Workplace Suicide Prevention — Implementation in First Responder and Health Care Settings during COVID-19

Wednesday, April 13, 2022

10:30 AM – 11:30 AM

Location: Gaylord National, National Harbor 4/5

Workshop Presenter(s)

Sally Spencer-Thomas, PsyD

President
United Suicide Survivors International
Conifer, Colorado
MA

Manny Almaguer

Assistant Chief Operations
Denver Fire Department
Conifer, Colorado
Marlon Rollins, PhD, LMHC, LPCC

CEO
Sierra by the Sea and Sunrise Ranch
Conifer, Colorado

Slides

Staff Moderator(s)

Laura Leone, DSW, MSSW, LMSW

Consultant
National Council for Mental Wellbeing
Plymouth, Massachusetts

As “essential personnel,” the resiliency skills of first responders and health care workers have been tested daily since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. While these frontline workers have built resiliency skills for the scenarios they normally encounter, when the pandemic arrived, there were no pre-built policies or training addressing their physical and mental wellbeing during this unprecedented crisis. Frontline workers had to serve citizens and be available for our families while ensuring our wellness without a gameplan in place. The National Guidelines for Workplace Suicide Prevention were launched to make suicide prevention a health and safety priority in the workplace. We will highlight the guidelines and the nine practices used to develop them.

Learning Objectives:

List key elements of the National Guidelines for Workplace Suicide Prevention.
To describe why suicide prevention is a health and safety priority for first responders and healthcare personnel.
Identify first steps in implementing the nine practices of the National Guidelines.