Local paramedic backs suicide prevention
A PARAMEDIC who works with the Emergency Services in Laois is the brainchild behind a major new suicide awareness and prevention initiative that is bringing dozens of soap box cars onto the streets on New Years Day.
Bruce McCormack - who works works with the HSE - was determined to create greater awareness of the scourge of suicide that is affecting every town and county in the country so he teamed up with the Tullamore Lions Club to stage a major awareness event on New Year's Day.
The streets of the town of Tullamore will provide the setting for a spectacular soap box race on January 1 next with over sixty participating cars as part of an innovative project to create greater awareness of suicide prevention measures in the midlands.
Rugby pundit and radio broadcaster George Hook was on hand at the Rugby Club in Tullamore last week to help launch details of what's to be known as the Tullamore ASIST Soap Box Derby which is being organised by Tullamore Lions club in association with the Midlands 999 Emergency Services and Midlands 103.
ASIST stands for Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training and is a two day 'first-aid' type training workshop aimed at helping all parents and members of the community recognise the symptoms when somebody is at risk of suicide and provide professional advice and assistance on how to intervene when somebody is in difficulty.
The ASIST training has been introduced to Ireland since 2005 as part of ‘Reach Out’, the National Strategy for Action on Suicide Prevention. It is co-ordinated by the National Office for Suicide Prevention and is delivered regionally in each HSE area by the HSE Suicide Prevention Resource Service. Similar delivery of ASIST training in Scotland and Australia has been hugely successful in helping to bring down the rate of suicide significantly.
"We feel this training is absolutely essential for all parents and members of community groups in the midlands" said Mr McCormack, "that's why we are staging this dramatic event to try and raise awareness and funds to run more of the ASIST workshops in our community".
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Sunday 26 May 2013
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