CAMP LEJEUNE, North Carolina  –   September is recognized nationally as Suicide Prevention Month and Navy Chaplains at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina hosted an Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST) workshop to train attendees to recognize early warning signs of self-harm/suicidal thoughts and how to intervene.

Cmdr. Jeremy Blythe, Naval Medical Center Camp Lejeune Pastoral Care department head, and Lt. Steven Szelmeczki, 2nd Medical Battalion Unit chaplain, led the ASIST workshop at the John A. Lejeune Education Center aboard Camp Lejeune Sept. 9-10, 2024. The workshop focuses on teaching participants how to recognize and intervene in situations involving someone who may be dealing with suicidal ideations.

ASIST teaches participants, referred to as “caregivers”, to recognize when someone may have thoughts of suicide and work with them to create a plan that will support their immediate safety.

“The ASIST curriculum uses the ‘Pathway for Assisting Life’, or PAL, formula,” Szelmeczki said. “[Participants] can help individuals understand their choices by listening for a ‘turning point’ that can be highlighted before we teach them how to develop and write a safe plan with follow-up actions that can take the person they’re helping away from a path of uncertainty to a path of certainty in a critical moment.”

The ASIST program aims to train caregivers who may have little to no experience dealing with an issue as important as suicide on how to notice warning signs and have difficult conversations. The course is offered to a mix of active-duty personnel and civilians.

“We start Day One off by giving them a general vision that this is life, this is going on around you, and this is how you can actually help,” said Szelmeczki. “Then we focus on coming together as a group, bonding, before teaching them the steps of PAL. Day Two we start utilizing the techniques we learned in different scenarios to progressively build on these newly learned skills.”

The ASIST curriculum is produced by LivingWorks, a suicide prevention and intervention training company. According to its website, more than 703,000 people take their own lives every year. According to a 2023 press release from the Department of Defense, suicide rates among service members has gradually increased since 2011 with nearly 500 personnel taking their own life.

“This program really helps prevent people, who may not have access to mental healthcare, from slipping through the cracks,” said Blythe. “People who are ‘expected to help’, like therapists, counselors, or chaplains aren’t omnipresent. So, the best thing we can do is train people at all levels so there’s always someone with the skills necessary to intervene.”

By teaching caregivers the skills and confidence needed to intervene in a situation involving someone who may be having suicidal ideations, the ASIST workshop empowers everyday people to step up during the difficult moments in someone’s life.

“I think a lot of people feel like they’re not qualified to intervene in a situation with someone who may be suicidal,” says Blythe. “But ASIST equips people with the necessary knowledge and skills to do just that, regardless of their background. That meaningful intervention could likely save someone’s life.”

Wanda Carr, a nurse with NMCCL’s Ambulatory Procedure Unit, is one of the many civilian health care professionals who has taken the ASIST course.

“As a registered nurse I not only have a person’s physical health to take care of, but their mental health as well. Not everyone is forthcoming about having thoughts of suicide, so being able to identify the signs is helpful in making sure my patients get all the help they need,” Carr explained.

ASIST caregivers are trained as a first line of defense in preventing someone from acting on their suicidal ideations, but they are also a bridge for connecting someone in need with the resources they need to stay safe.

“The coursework not only helps you recognize the signs of suicide, but it helps you have that conversation and piece together what you can do to help keep someone safe while they get the help they need,” says Carr. “I highly recommend that anyone who’s given the opportunity to take the ASIST workshop does it. Become aware of what’s going on around you, because just because some has a smile on their face doesn’t mean their heart isn’t hurting.”

The ASIST workshop is offered quarterly to DoD personnel. The next class will be a shortened version entitled “SafeTalk” offered with Blythe in October.

If you or someone you know are struggling with suicidal ideations, please call the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988 which is available 24 hours a day.

If you are active duty or a DoD employee and would like to become an ASIST trainer or receive ASIST training for yourself or department/unit, please contact NMCCL Pastoral Care at 910-450-4070.