“Suicide rocks a community,” says Judith Chance, Fund Development Manager at 4 Wing Military Family Resource Centre Society. “It’s devastating. People ask, ‘Why didn’t I see this?’”

Suicide has far-reaching impacts even beyond the profound shock and grief experienced by family and friends. A recent study cited by the Atlas Institute for Veterans and Families suggests that each death can affect up to 135 people. In close-knit communities like military bases and wings, the impact can be magnified.

The 4 Wing Military Family Resource Centre Society (MFRCS) is the sole provider of the Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST) in northeastern Alberta, and True Patriot Love has been working to support 4 Wing MFRCS in providing this training for military members, Veterans and their families since 2016.

Without this local resource, military members and Veterans, as well as the first responders and community mental health providers who benefit from ASIST training, would have to travel three hours to Edmonton, the next closest city where ASIST programs are available.

The ASIST workshop teaches participants how to directly ask someone if they are having thoughts of suicide, and how to assure that person that you are available as a safe space to talk. The workshop also teaches how to provide a skilled intervention, and how to develop a safety plan with the person to connect them to further supports.

Military members and Veterans are the primary participants in 4 Wing MFRCS’ ASIST workshops, with family members and community mental health providers being the second largest group.

Throughout their careers, Military First Responders often attend situations where a mental health crisis is occurring. Having received the valuable ASIST course training provides them with excellent tools for a safer outcome.

Participants gain life-saving skills in the two-day training and feel more capable of intervening when a person is at risk of harming him/herself or others. Even the training itself is designed to provide support: a second facilitator is always in the classroom should someone become triggered by the information presented.

Click here to watch a video about the impact of 4 Wing MFRCS’s ASIST program.

Thanks to funding provided by True Patriot Love through the Bell True Patriot Love Fund, the 4 Wing MFRCS ASIST program is available to military members, Veterans, and their families at no cost.