Mental Health First Aid class set for Friday in Havre

Adult Havreites can learn how to respond to and identify signs of mental illnesses and substance use disorders this week.

The Mental Health First Aid course will be held Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at Bullhook Community Health Center.

A youth version of the training will be held later.

Montana State University Hill County Extension Agent Jasmine Carbajal of Havre and Teton County Extension Agent Alice Burchak of Shelby, both nationally trained Mental Health First Aid instructors, will co-teach the course.

“It is really a great training and it’s one of my favorite things to teach out of all the programs we do,” Carbajal said.

The program provides an eight-hour course to give people the skills they need to reach out and provide initial support to someone who may be developing a mental health or substance use problem and help connect them to appropriate care, a flyer about the program said.

Topics that will be covered are common signs and symptoms of mental illness, common signs and symptoms of substance use, how to interact with a person in crisis, how to connect the person with help and, new this year, how to administer naloxone in the event of opioid overdose.

“We also give participants a tool, which is the acronym ALGEE action plan,” Carbajal said. “The tool people walk away with is to learn how to Assess for risk of suicide or harm, they learn how to Listen nonjudgementally, Give reassurance and information,  Encourage appropriate professional help, and how to Encourage self-help and other support strategies.”

She said the teachers will take participants through the ALGEE process in each section and participants will learn how to talk about these topics in appropriate terminology in first person language. She said it is a very hands-on course.

Carbajal added that participants will receive a manual that discusses everything the course will cover in the eight-hour training and more. 

The flyer added that people who should take the course include employers, police officers, hospital staff, first responders, faith leaders, community members, caring individuals and more.

“When people take this training they walk away with a good tool that, if they come across a situation related to mental health, they will know how to handle it,” Carbajal said. “It is kind of like CPR (Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation) in our medical field, but this is first aid for mental health.”

People interested in the course can register with Bullhook Community Health Center Behavioral Health Manager Diedre Reiter at 395-6907. Space is limited to 30 participants.