A crisis line worker picks up the telephone and hears a shotgun blast. The caller says, in effect, that the shot was one barrel of a double-barrel shotgun and tells the worker that there are five remaining minutes available to convince the person not to commit suicide.

Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training is a two-day workshop that uses the scenario above to teach the caller how to respond.

ASIST training was held Feb. 24 and 25 at the U.S. Army Reserve Center off Butner Road. ASIST teaches that people are contributaries to the river of suicide that runs through any community. It is presented by LivingWorks, founded by human service personnel who, according to its Web site, wanted to develop suicide intervention training programs for front-line caregivers or gatekeepers of all disciplines and occupational groups.

The intent is to intervene before suicide happens and so, ASIST presents a suicide intervention model to convey strategies for helping those who may be suicidal. SIM has three phases: connecting, understanding and assisting.

During the connecting phase, a potentially suicidal person sends a cry for help. There must be no hesitation in establishing if a person is suicidal. Not to do so quickly could give the person a chance to evade a direct question about being suicidal or present the final push to commit the deed.

During the understanding phase, the caregiver who is intervening to prevent suicide must listen attentively to the at-risk person’s reasons for wanting to live as well as reasons to die.

Those feelings can be mirrored back to the at-risk person, said Jill Hermsen, a chaplain’s assistant and one of the teachers of the workshop. The conversation must become reflective.
“If they’re talking about reasons for living, that’s what we talk about. If they’re talking about reasons for dying, that’s what we talk about,” Hermsen said.

Matthew Jennette, who also taught the workshop, agreed. He is a Soldier advocate, Directorate of Human Resources.

“It is a necessary step in connecting with that person and understanding the reasons they want to commit suicide,” he said.

During the assisting phase, a caregiver can establish a contract or a safe plan for someone who is suicidal.

The contract may be as simple as directing an at-risk person to a chaplain, health provider, Family or a friend.

ASIST was combined with ACE training last year, said Carolyn DeWindt, Fort Bragg suicide prevention officer. ACE is an Ask, Care, Escort card that provides tips for the prevention of suicide.

“ACE was always the Army suicide prevention training,” DeWindt said. “ASIST was added for frontline supervisors.”

Staff Sergeant Jennifer Idler, a section sergeant with Company A, 50th Signal Battalion, took ASIST training and said it will prove beneficial.

“It’s really good training to have. It teaches us how to deal with somebody if we do come across a suicidal person,” Idler said. “(We have) to ask questions to connect, understand how they’re feeling and how to keep them safe until we get them to a professional.”

There were more than 160 suicides in the Army in 2009, according to a recent CNN report. The incidents of suicide increased Army-wide in 2009. In January 2010, there were 27 confirmed or potential suicides.

Samuel Lewis, a police services employee with the Provost Marshal Office said that ASIST training could help to save lives.

“I’ve learned that persons that are at risk for suicide can be helped if the problem is recognized and they get help from a knowledgeable person,” Lewis said.