Gillian Furness, Station Officer, Northern Ireland Ambulance Service (NIAS), Armagh & Banbridge
Just a quick note to say how much I enjoyed the ‘Responding to Suicide’ course that I attended yesterday, it really is one of the best courses that I have been lucky enough to complete in my 23 years in NIAS. It was informative, useful, emotional and practical and I feel that it will be so beneficial for me in my current Station Officer role, from either the perspective of responding to calls or supporting staff that have attended calls involving suicide and it has also enhanced my ability to support staff that may be struggling emotionally themselves.
Can I just add that the lived experiences of Angela and Lee were so meaningful and so beneficial from the perspective of giving us (as first responder emergency personnel), an insight into the needs of the people that we will potentially be dealing with when responding to an emergency call involving suicide. I felt that the training was very enlightening and will certainly enhance my practice as a Paramedic and has enhanced my understanding around suicide immensely. In my opinion, this course is a must for all emergency personnel.
Thank you for the hard work and dedication that it has surely taken to create and deliver this training.