Last week I had the privilege of attending NC State’s Counseling Center’s suicide prevention training, also known as Question, Persuade, and Refer (QPR) training. During this training our instructor compared the idea of QPR to CPR, because the training can help save lives in the same way.
Our society has had a push to care more about our physical health and view CPR as a first aid essential for everyone to know. However, with suicide being the second leading cause of death for college students in the United States and over 1,000 completed suicides per year on campuses nationwide, we need students and faculty to be prepared to intervene and help prevent suicide attempts. In this way, QPR is just as important as CPR and needs to become a part of our curriculum.
According to the NC State Counseling Center, the Question, Persuade, and Refer training is taught in order to “provides guidelines on how to question a person about suicidal thoughts, persuade them to get help, and refer the person for help.”
When people are taught CPR they are always taught that they are not the doctors in the situation and are only completing the compressions and rescue breaths to keep the individual alive until medical professionals arrive to the scene. Similarly, QPR is used to prevent individuals from completing suicide and providing them with the support and resources needed until they can speak with professional counselors.
Additionally, the QPR training focuses on warning signs so that students and faculty can acquire the knowledge to identify various direct and indirect cues of a student that could be considering completing suicide. As a result of becoming more aware of these cues, students can then begin conversations with someone and activate the QPR process.
The largest benefit of QPR is that activating the conversation can’t directly harm anyone; therefore, there is no direct consequence of initiating QPR. Although students or faculty may feel nervous that a relationship could be damaged or changed due to the serious conversation (i.e. offending the individual), the conversation actually shows the other person that you care deeply for them and should result in a stronger bond between you two.
QPR training can be helpful not only for students working for campus organizations such as Wellness Coaching or Mental Health Ambassadors, but can also be beneficial on an individual level. Trained students can use QPR to initiate conversations and share resources with roommates, friends, and family.
With the toll of suicide weighing heavily on college students, QPR training is just as important as CPR training on campus. NC State should include QPR in physical education curriculums and certifications required to work on campus as it truly is as important as other first aid skills. By equipping students with these skills, we are creating a more conscious and safer space within the Wolfpack community.
It is crucial for students, faculty, and virtually everyone to learn this skill in order to be able to have the conversations that could help save a life.
Resources for students requesting professional help and support include the NC State Counseling Center at 919.515.2423 and National Suicide Hotline 1.800.273.8255 with both having 24 hour access.
