First aid training hits statewide milestone

The Ohio Mental Health First Aid Statewide Collaborative reached a milestone having trained over 1,000 Ohioans in Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) over six months.

The Mental Health, Addiction and Recovery Services (MHARS) Board of Lorain County encourages Lorain County residents to use these resources.

This milestone is significant with challenges of implementing Mental Health First Aid training across the country during the coronavirus pandemic, according to a news release.

Despite this, the collaborative transitioned rapidly from in-person to online training for 35 new virtual instructors, the release said.

The nonprofit collaborative includes Mental Health America of Northern Kentucky and Southwest Ohio; Miami University’s Center for School-Based Mental Health Programs and the University’s Discovery Center for Evaluation, Research and Professional Learning; Mental Health America of Ohio; The Ohio Mental Health Network for School Success; as well as support from regional and national Mental Health First Aid experts.

Combined, these organizations’ successes are well documented having, over their history, trained over 8,900 individuals in Mental Health First Aid and Youth Mental Health First Aid, the release said.

The grant provides funding to train an additional 3,000 Ohio adults that work, volunteer or interact with organizations that serve adolescents and transition-age youth, minorities, older adults and faith-based communities.

Schools, colleges and universities, nonprofit organizations, faith-based groups and senior service agencies/providers are encouraged to contact the collaborative to schedule training.

All training costs are covered by the project until June 30 when the Ohio Mental Health and Addiction Services funding expires.

To schedule a class for your group or organization, or for more information, contact https://mhaohio.org/get-help/mhfa/ or call 614-257-7409. For Youth Mental Health First Aid, email Kathleen Oberlin at oberlink2@ gmail.com; For Adult Mental Health First Aid, email Tori Ivan at tivan@mhaohio.org.