Suicide Awareness
for
First Responders
Trennis E. Killian
Smashwords Edition
Copyright © 2012 by Trennis E. Killian
The print edition of this book may be obtained from www.trenniskillian.com
This E-Book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This E-Book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
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Other Books by Trennis E. Killian
The Relational Self Help Series
The Relational Self Help Series addresses most issues of relationships. Here are the titles published to date.
Beware of Abusive Behavior
Basic Counseling for Pastors and Other Church Leaders
Building a Godly Marriage
Conquering Grief
Controlling Your Reactions
Coping with Stress
Crisis Intervention/Suicide Prevention
Planning Communication
Relational Self Help Collection, Vol. I
There are more books coming in this series, please look for them at: www.trenniskillian.com.
Other Nonfiction Books
Victory over Gambling:
Leading Compulsive Gamblers to Freedom in Christ
Victory over Gambling: Workbook
The Easy Study Bible: New Testament (Diagram Form)
The Easy Study Bible: New Testament (Paragraph Form)
The Easy Study Bible Commentary
Novels
The Real Beginning
For information or to purchase one of these titles either in paperback or E-Book form please go to the webpage www.trenniskillian.com.
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Table of Contents
Introduction to The First Responder Series
Introduction to Suicide Awareness
Part One. Understanding Suicide
Chapter 1. Common Myths about Suicide
Chapter 2. Why People Commit Suicide
Chapter 3. Signs of Suicidal Intention
Chapter 4. Adolescent Suicidal Behavior
Part Two: What Should We Do?
Rules of Suicide Prevention
Steps to Helping a Suicidal Person
How to Help Suicidal First Responders
Chapter 6. Responding to Scenes of Suicide Threats
Behavior to Watch for
Helping
How to Help Yourself
How to Help Others
Scenarios
Chapter 7. Responding to Scenes of Suicide Completion
Helping the Survivors
What Survivors Go Through
Support for Survivors of Suicide
Scenarios
Chapter 8. Responding to Scenes of First Responder Suicide
Scenarios
Suggested Responses to the Scenarios
Communication Tips
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Introduction to The First Responder Series
The First Responder Series is dedicated to the men and women who daily risk their lives to help keep the rest of the population safe and healthy. Too many people take you for granted. I don’t!
I’ve been a chaplain for twenty-four years in two different hospitals and with three different law enforcement agencies. I know what you do. I know what you go through on a daily basis. I know how the public often treats you.
This series is aimed at helping first responders to first of all, help yourselves. Second it is aimed at helping you to serve those you are sworn to serve even better.
At this time, three books are planned for this series:
Suicide Awareness for First Responders
Stress Management for First Responders
Crisis Management for First Responders
As these books are used by first responders everywhere, I’m sure there will be suggestions as to other topics which might need to be addressed. These suggestions will be evaluated and new titles may result.
Too many times I’ve had first responders ask me questions that begin with “What do I do if . . .” Hopefully, this series will answer many of those what if questions. But, if you still have questions, let me know and I’ll find answers for you which may eventually wind up in a book such as this one.
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Introduction to Suicide Awareness
Suicide is an unpleasant fact! Thousands of people kill themselves in the United States each year. Figures range from 30,000 to 75,000 per year. These are only the ones that are reported. Since so many suicides go unreported, this figure could be as high as 150,000.
Along with this statistic goes another one for attempted suicides. There is no way of knowing exactly how many people attempt suicide and fail in their efforts. The estimates are in the millions. Then, when we add in all of those people who are potentially suicidal, the figure reaches astronomical proportions.
I have asked the following question in many different types of groups in Suicide Awareness training sessions. “Have you ever had any kind of thought, even fleeting, of doing bodily harm to yourself.” I always add. “Think about it for a moment before you answer and be totally honest.” Most people in those groups eventually raise their hands.
Therefore, it is extremely important that everyone be aware of four different topics of suicidal behavior:
1. Myths about Suicide
2. Why People Commit Suicide
3. Signs of Suicidal Intention
4. How to Help a Suicidal Person
This information is crucial for first responders to know. You are most often the ones who must confront suicidal persons. You are the ones who have to patch them up when they try. You are the ones who have to inform, comfort, and otherwise help those left behind, the “survivors of suicide.”
The first five chapters of this book will address those four issues with an additional chapter devoted to adolescent suicidal behavior.
Chapters 6, 7, and 8 will be first responder specific. These chapters will help you respond to three different types of scenes:
1. Scenes of Suicide Threats
2. Scenes of Suicide Completion
3. Scenes of First Responder Suicide
These chapters contain much helpful information for you as you arrive on a scene, but they do not have all the information you need for every possible scenario that you may face. Hopefully, this will be enough so that when combined with your other training, it will be enough to help you make a difference in lives affected by suicide threats and completion.
Chapters 6, 7, and 8 will end with an additional section.
That section will be a listing of “Scenarios” which will give you an idea of different situations you may face. Read each scenario and format a plan for how you would deal with the situation presented by the scenario. There will be suggestions of how to deal with the situation presented in each scenario in the “Suggested Responses to the Scenarios” in the Appendix at the back of the book.
There will also be a section in the Appendix which gives some “Communication Tips” which will be helpful in dealing with situations you may face. These tips will be “Things to Do or Say” and “Things Not to Do or Say.” Please remember these. Much damage can be done by saying or doing the wrong things when a person is in a crisis situation.