RTS Training

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.

Can I just say again, the delivery was superb, with the key strength being both trainers in my eyes.

The way in which they described their own personal experience of suicide was just so powerful and will stay with me a lifetime.  As a result my interactions and response at any future death by suicide will be directly as a result of the RTS training and the detailed insight they provided.

This training is a must for any emergency service provider and is a credit to you all!

The training was emotional. The Trainer created a safe space for us to explain our thoughts in the group activities. I am able to signpost persons to local organisations as additional support and respond to risk. I feel this training has built on my knowledge about prevention of suicide.

Thank you to the Trainers.

“Responding to Suicide is the first time that statistical based information concerning suicide has been presented to serving officers in a way that is matter of fact, clear and  operationally relevant. It allowed me to see, and more importantly gave me the time, to understand the impact suicide has had on our community, our families but also on “us” I felt considered and that the hidden sacrifices I have made in working with people, were important. I felt like someone had really taken the time to try and understand what I had went through and the toll it had taken on me and my family. The heart of it was “ How can we do this better?” It was very validating and I felt lighter and more connected with my colleagues as a result. Thank you.“

Once again, thank you sincerely for a wonderful programme. From start to finish, I found it to be extremely informative, educational, heart-rendering yet so very necessary for front line operational officers and indeed anyone who has the potential to come into contact with anyone else affected by suicide. I can say with certainty, it is one of the most interesting and helpful courses I’ve participated in.

As a clinician of 30+ years I have responded to or dealt directly with those bereaved by suicide many many times. It was always the type of call I dreaded because I felt ill equipped to be able to deal with the questions and raw grief that always came from the relatives present or who would arrive on scene. Sorry for your loss seemed so inadequate at these calls and many times I am ashamed to say I had no words and maybe just hugged the relatives. 

This course and especially the delivery of it by Angela Lee and Sharon, has made me stop and think about how to better deal with the scene, improve my communication with the bereaved relatives, and the impact that we as responders have long term with our actions and words on those who have suffered loss by suicide. I would highly recommend this training to all those who respond to death by suicide calls. No matter how much experience you think you have you will learn something new and will be better equipped to respond to those bereaved. 

I am an experienced serving front line officer and I gained a lot from this training day. The lived experiences of those providing the training made it extremely engaging. I think this should be rolled out to all police officers during initial training. I would have benefited from having it many years ago.

“The RTS Training gave me the insight and learning to proactively support families managing suicide bereavement, it highlighted to me the importance and potential of introducing Suicide Family Liaison Officers across Hampshire. The trainers lived experience of suicide was fundamental to the training and very impactive”

With very many thanks.

As an operation Police Officer and a supervisor, my team and I often attend incidents relating to mental health crisis, in the demanding workplace staff are also facing situations of personal crisis which as supervisors we have to manage and support which is difficult with little or no formal training in this complex area.

I was quietly confident I knew and understood enough to equip me to do a good job, however, after this training event I knew so much more and quickly admitted I didn’t know as much as I thought I had.  The training presentations, lived in experiences shared, literature and signposting to information was top class.  This was a really empowering event and I would highly recommend anyone who has the opportunity to attend one of these events to engage with it.  You will come away wiser and confident to look at and deal with any situation in a far more proficient manner.

Thank you to the team, with Mental health such a high profile focus it’s good to know that there are organisations out there that can help steer us towards better knowledge and understanding

The course was excellent and the feedback from those attending has been great and the consensus was that it has improved understanding of what is a very difficult issue, that people in general including police officers shy away from. The course was expertly managed by the trainers who were able to create an informal and relaxed atmosphere which assisted in helping the people in the room share their own experiences. This was very important as not only for those telling their stories but also a great deal of learning comes from those honest and open conversations in the room and listening and learning from others lived and professional experiences.  We hope to roll the course out wider organisation in the coming months