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“The new training helps our officers better understand people with mental illnesses so they can respond appropriately without compromising safety,” says Chief Anthony Silva, executive director of the Municipal Police Training Academy in Rhode Island. Chief Silva says the training, a 12-hour certification course, offered to help average citizens respond to psychiatric emergencies until professional help arrives, had to be tailored to include the police perspective along with the mental health perspective. “Police have to learn more than the signs and symptoms of mental illness,” says Lt. Joseph Coffey, who initiated the training at the police department in Warwick, RI. “Police officers need to look at the total situation while considering how to avoid injury to themselves and to the person in crisis.” The training was introduced to police officers in the state in 2008 when Lt. Coffey teamed up with Carole Bernardo, a certified Mental Health First Aid instructor at Gateway Healthcare, one of seven pilot locations in the nation for the new program. More than 200 officers in Rhode Island have now received the tailored mental health training. “Part of the training involves the officers listening to tapes of voices, similar to voices a person with mental illness may hear in his head,” says Bernardo. “That’s often a turning point for officers, when they realize what a person with serious mental illness may be experiencing when trying to respond to questions.” The training became applicable recently when Warwick police responded to a man with schizophrenia who barricaded himself into his apartment after breaking into a neighbor’s house. While the typical police response called for busting down the man’s door, the responding officers had the mental health training and managed to defuse the situation within an hour after talking with the man’s family members and a neighbor familiar with the man’s condition. Instead of taking the man to the cell block and potentially triggering another incident, he was sent directly to a hospital for evaluation. “We’re finding that Mental Health First Aid is not only helping police officers better identify the signs of mental illness, but the training improves their knowledge and understanding of mental illnesses,” says Linda Rosenberg, president and CEO of the National Council, who says the training has the potential to become as common as First Aid and CPR. “We hope the training will reduce the stigma of mental illness and addiction and help people understand that the illness is real, common and treatable.” Rosenberg says community mental health organizations across the nation are replicating Rhode Island’s success by offering the Mental Health First Aid program to local law enforcement and corrections officers. The effectiveness of Mental Health First Aid has been proven in randomized trials. One trial of 301 randomized participants found that those certified in Mental Health First Aid had greater confidence in providing help to others, greater likelihood of advising people to seek professional help, improved concordance with health professionals about treatments and decreased stigmatizing attitudes. Unexpectedly, the study also found that the program improved the mental health of the participants. Information about Mental Health First Aid may be found at www.MentalHealthFirstAid.org. Mental Health First Aid is a groundbreaking public education program that helps the public identify, understand, and respond to signs of mental illnesses and substance use disorders. Mental Health First Aid USA is managed, operated, and disseminated by three national authorities — the National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare, the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, and the Missouri Department of Mental Health. The Mental Health First Aid program has benefited a variety of audiences and key professions, including hospitals, employers and business leaders, faith communities, school personnel, police and corrections staff, nursing homes, mental health authorities, policymakers, young people, families and the general public. To find a course near you or learn how you can become a certified instructor, visit www.MentalHealthFirstAid.org. Subscribe to our FREE Ezine and receive current Health News, be eligible for discounted products/services and coupons related to your Health. We publish 24/7. HealthNewsDigest.com For advertising or promotion, email: tvmike13@healthnewsdigest.com Top of Page 
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