Roses in the Ocean provides lived experience voice to training

In a first for the Queensland Ambulance Service, call takers will be listening to people with lived experience of suicide in a new training program developed to help them respond to calls from people feeling suicidal.

Heard and Understood: Responding to a Suicidal Patient is an education program aimed at raising awareness and understanding of suicide through the voice of people with a lived experience of suicidality.

The program is aimed at Emergency Medical Dispatchers and Operation Centre staff but includes information relevant for everyone.

The QAS has partnered with a notfor-profit organisation to develop a training program for our staff harnessing the knowledge of people with lived experience to provide a voice for people who call Triple Zero (000).

People with a lived experience tell us the importance of feeling heard and understood.

Roses in the Ocean is a national organisation for people with lived experience of suicide, and part of its role is to engage with organisations like the QAS to increase staff awareness and understanding to better support suicide prevention.

Each year, four in every 1000 Australians will attempt suicide, while three out of 100 will attempt suicide in their lifetime.

Meanwhile, the QAS receives more than 100 calls a day from people experiencing a suicide crisis.

QAS Mental Health Response Program Director Sandra Garner said our EMDs are often the first people to talk to someone experiencing suicidal thoughts and this training was to help call takers feel more confident when taking these calls.

“We approached Roses in the Ocean to collaborate with us after staff and union feedback identified that many of our call takers lacked confidence talking to a person experiencing a suicide crisis,” Sandra said.

“I think it’s really important for our calltakers to gain an understanding of what it’s like to feel immensely vulnerable when they take these calls – it will make a difference and will save lives..

“We know our call takers are incredibly skilled – they can guide everyday Queenslanders through childbirth and CPR to keep their loved ones alive until our paramedics arrive, as well as everything in between, but it’s important they feel more confident to help someone who is experiencing an acute mental health crisis.

“When people are at the point of calling Triple Zero (000), they have typically exhausted their own coping strategies and need urgent help.

“As a first point of contact our call takers can provide a great connection and support and keep this person chatting on the line while we get help to them. In a crisis we know that people want to feel heard and understood.”

Sandra said so far, early staff focus group feedback had been positive.

“This training is not prescriptive, but what people have come back to me saying is that it’s made them really think more about people experiencing suicidal thoughts – and that’s an excellent start,” she said.

Roses in the Ocean’s Head of Lived Experience Engagement and Integration

Nichola Parry said the team was thrilled to partner with the QAS to provide a voice of lived experience to the training.

“At Roses in the Ocean we believe including the lived experience voice is critical to any suicide prevention initiative, or model design right from the outset, helping to reduce the stigma and uncertainty around suicide,” Nichola said.

“When you talk about suicide from a place of compassion and understanding it increases trust and connection, and it opens up the communication which helps to prevent suicide.”

Nichola said all Roses in the Ocean staff have a lived experience of suicide – which includes those who have experienced suicidal thoughts, survived a suicide attempt, cared for someone through suicidal crisis or been bereaved by suicide, ensuring they are best placed to inform, influence and lead suicide prevention activities in their local communities, workplaces and at all levels of government.

The training program includes interviews with Roses in the Oceans advocate Grace and Brooke who talk about their experiences of suicidal ideation and what helped (or didn’t help) when they made their Triple Zero calls.

The training program is now online –click here [https://rb.gy/uz9xd0.

For more information and backgr]ound about the training program and Roses in the Ocean, click here [https://on.soundcloud.com/wjJiW] to listen.

QAS staff and their families are reminded to use the free staff support service if they are requiring support during this time.

Telephone Counselling Service:

The Priority One Program provides a 24-hour, 1800, telephone counselling service on 1800 805 980. This service is accessible from anywhere in Queensland and is available to both personnel and to their immediate family members.

Peer Support Program

This program is aimed at carefully selecting volunteers within the workplace to undertake significant ongoing training and supervision in mental health education and awareness and in specific support and micro-counselling skills. They are often the firstline contact for personnel in the work environment.

Self-Referral Counselling

The QAS provides a personal confidential counselling service that enables employees or members of their immediate family to have face-to-face counselling with one of over 150 external specialist counsellors available throughout Queensland. In addition to this, are internal full time staff counsellors located across Queensland.

QAS Chaplaincy Service

The QAS Chaplaincy service provides spiritual welfare and a pastoral care dimension to Ambulance personnel and their families. The Queensland Ambulance Service Chaplain and Pastoral Care Service seeks to enhance the lives of all officers and their families by providing an ecumenical and professional Ministry which is supportive, meaningful and tolerant of the views of others and ideas in relation to the religions of the world.

Eliminating the stigma starts by understanding why suicide occurs and advocating for mental health awareness within our communities. Challenging your own thoughts and responses to a caller who presents with suicidal ideation is the first step to eliminating any negative attitudes or stigma.

#1 Asking about suicide is a bad idea

As there is widespread stigma around suicide, most people do not know who to talk to or how to talk about the issue. When asked directly, this actually gives permission to people to talk about what the reasons they want to die are, and also the reasons they want to live. This encourages self-reflections, slows down impulsivity, and allows support to arrive in time.

#2 Someone who is suicidal wants to die

Suicidal people often feel overwhelmed, distressed, and hopeless during a crisis; some can feel they don’t have the resources or resilience to cope with what is happening for them. People who attempt suicide often don’t want to die, rather want to end the pain and feelings of hopelessness and helplessness they are feeling. With support and help people can get through these feelings.

#3 Once suicidal, always suicidal

Heightened suicide risk is often short-term and situation-specific. While suicidal thoughts may return, they do not stay permanently. Therefore, it is key to link people with suicidal thoughts with support, resources, and help build their resilience.

#4 People who discuss suicide aren’t always intending to take their own life

A significant number of people who die from suicide experience severe anxiety, depression, and other major life challenges beforehand. They may feel that their only option is to end their life. It is important to treat everyone who talks about suicide seriously and respectfully

#5 Most suicides happen without warning

Most suicides are preceded by verbal or behavioural warning signs, for example, seeking help from health professionals or expressions of distress to those closest to them. Sometimes the help seeking can be very subtle or unrecognisable. So, it is always good to ask… because asking someone about their thoughts of ending their own life or dying is not going to ‘put the idea in another person’s mind,’ rather will help them to feel heard and understood or feel supported at a difficult time.

#6 Only people with mental health conditions are suicidal

Suicidal behaviours indicate deep dissatisfaction with life, but it is not necessarily a mental health issue. It is important to keep in mind that many people living with mental health issues are not suicidal, and people who take their own lives might not have any mental health issues.

#7 People who die by suicide are selfish and take the easy way out

Typically, people do not die by suicide because they do not want to live; people die by suicide because they want their suffering to end. They tend to have struggled and suffered for a long period of time and perceive that they have exhausted all other support options. People who contemplate suicide often believe that people would be better off if they were not around.

#8 Suicide can’t be prevented

Suicide is preventable but, unfortunately, unpredictable. Suicide is a complex issue, and everyone in society as well as health professionals can help with suicide prevention by taking the issue seriously, showing empathy, and linking the person with the support they require in a timely manner.