Gary Lester (right) and Dorothy Hilliard (center) discuss QPR with trainer Kari Swanson.

Question, persuade, and refer.

That’s the strategy that QPR trainer Kari Swanson wants to get community members trained to execute.

The three step process for evaluating and routing a suicidal person to the right resources and services is not unlike CPR for medical emergencies, said Swanson. It’s about identifying a need by correctly reading verbal and nonverbal cues, convincing a person suffering from suicidal ideations to hang on long enough to get an evaluation, and then getting that person to the appropriate service providers.

Gary Lester and Dorothy Hilliard, who co-facilitate the Hospice of Warren County Suicide Grief Support Group have invited Kari to share QPR information with their group.

“But we also wanted to open it up to anyone in the community who has an interest,” said Lester.

While the HOWC Suicide Grief Support Group is intended for people who’ve lost a loved one to suicide, the April meeting, which will be held at 5:30 p.m. Monday, April 9, at the Faith Fellowship Church of God at 208 Market Street in Warren, is open to anyone in the community.

One of the biggest questions Hilliard said she fields from those who’ve lost loved ones to suicide is the question of why… Why didn’t I see this coming? Why didn’t I recognize the need my loved one had?

The introduction of QPR theory and practice to the group, said both Hilliard and Lester, is an attempt to help group members feel empowered moving forward to be preventative and proactive.

“It’s about learning how to read clues,” said Swanson, who has given QPR training to Warren County School District personnel, faculty, and staff, as well as corrections officers and police departments. “Indirect, direct, behavioral and situational clues,” said Swanson, can all indicate that a person needs treatment for suicidal ideation. Being able to appropriately interpret them is integral.

And, said Hilliard, it’s not just about knowing what to look for, but how to handle it when you see it. “Having the knowledge and skills to get someone to help” is what she hopes both group and community members will take from the QPR training.

“It’s important that we remove the stigma. We’ve been programmed to say that I can deal with this,” said Hilliard, “when sometimes we really can’t.”

“It’s okay to talk about it,” said Swanson, “but it’s important for people to know that it’s also okay to ask questions and to err on the side of caution.”

The HOWC Suicide Grief Support Group is open to anyone who has experienced grief due to the loss of a loved one to suicide. It meets on the second Monday of each month at 5:30 p.m. at the Faith Fellowship Church of God. Hilliard asked that anyone coming to the group use the side entrance off the parking lot. For the month of April, in order to bring QPR information to as many people as possible, the group is open to anyone in the community who’s interested.

Call Hospice of Warren County at (814) 723-2455 to register in order to ensure that enough QPR material will be available at April’s meeting.