‘It really is life-changing for those who take it’; Stephanie Carlson explains the benefits of learning Mental Health First Aid

RENO, Nev. (KOLO) - Many people have taken some kind of basic first aid training class where you learn how to perform CPR, recognize the signs of stroke or heart attack, how to bandage a wound or save someone from choking. Mental Health First Aid training prepares people for what to do when they encounter someone having a mental or emotional crisis rather than a physical one.

Stephanie Carlson is a Mental Health First Aid instructor. She explains how regular first aid focuses on what to do, mental health first aid teaches people what to say.

“You are so much more likely, I believe, in my experience at least, to use mental health first aid than you are to use CPR or first aid training,” she said. “It really is life-changing for those who take it.”

Watch Morning Break’s Katey Roshetko’s conversation with Carlson about the other benefits of learning Mental Health First Aid, the rate of mental health issues and suicide deaths in America, and how we need more people to step up and lend a listening ear to those struggling with their mental health.

Carlson will be teaching a Mental Health First Aid training class at Barton Health in South Lake Tahoe Thursday, Sept. 29 from 8:00 a.m - 4:30 p.m. The event takes place at the Barton Center for Orthopedics & Wellness in Conference Room C.

Click here to sign up and to learn more.

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