Expert on suicide helps educate area law enforcement

Fargo, ND (WDAY TV) - Money raised from a special summer walk in Fargo is now helping educate area law enforcement about a topic that officers deal with daily. The local chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention brought in a national expert who is spending two days focusing on how to best deal with families during a suicide call.

From a paramedic to a police officer to a church minister, those who attended the seminar learned the sensitive issue of dealing with the family of someone who lost a loved one to suicide.

Barb Smith lost a loved one to suicide. Now she helps educate those in the law enforcement and the EMS community about the sensitive way they must handle loved ones who have just seen someone they love die from suicide.

“Addressing why people take their life, to how to change the stigma of suicide to also work with families in the aftermath because the more sensitive to it, the more we help and educate, the more we can prevent suicide because it is humanness.”

And it is hoped that when law enforcement and paramedics leave this seminar, they have the tools and resources to actually prevent suicides in our community.