Suicidal behaviour is more common than most people think, but very few people know how to prevent it, so Hinton’s Family and Community Support Services is hosting a two-day workshop to help change that.

The workshop, Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST), teaches participants the appropriate attitudes, knowledge and skills needed to recognize when a person is at risk of suicide. It will also teach participants how to approach that person and to whom a person can be referred.

“You learn intervention skills,” said Joan Melvin, Hinton’s community development co-ordinator. “So if someone is contemplating suicide, hopefully once you’ve learned the skills, you can intervene and quite possibly save that person’s life.”

Melvin said the major indicators of suicidal thoughts are sudden changes in behaviour or personality, feelings of desperation, helplessness, hopelessness, loss and depression, previous suicide attempts, and statements expressing a desire to die.

According to the Alberta Health Services website, each year, suicide claims more lives in Alberta than motor vehicle accidents, AIDS or homicide.

“More than 400 people in Alberta die by suicide every year. In addition, there are close to 6,000 emergency department visits and close to 2,000 hospitalizations every year for self-inflicted injuries,” states the website.

A 2009 report compiled by the Alberta Centre for Injury Control and Research shows that between 2004 and 2006, the (former) Aspen Health Region, which includes Hinton and its surrounding area, had the highest suicide rate in the province, with 18.6 deaths per 100,000 people.

Melvin said in 2009, within a very short period of time, there were six suicides in Hinton.

“Thankfully we haven’t had another situation where there have been multiple suicides in a short amount of time since 2009,” she said, noting there seems to be cycles.

The ASIST workshop is designed for all caregiving and human services groups, like social workers, school teachers and victim services advocates. But it is also available to members of the general public.

“Suicide impacts everyone, so whether it’s in your workplace or your family or any social network at all, there is a potential for someone to contemplate suicide, so I would say everyone should consider taking the training,” Melvin said.

The workshop, which has room for 30 participants, is being partially funded by a Community Injury Control Fund grant and is being presented by LivingWorks Education Inc.

It is being held Nov. 3 and 4. To sign up, contact Melvin at Community Support Services in Hinton: 780-865-6026.