City of Ottawa offers 'SafeTALK' suicide awareness program to employees

The City of Ottawa is offering a training program to more than 17,000 employees on how to recognize and help others struggling with thoughts of suicide.

The three-hour "SafeTALK" workshop uses talk as an acronym — tell, ask, listen and keep safe — to help guide a conversation about suicide and how to ask about suicidal thoughts.

The program is optional to any city employee in an effort to advance mental health at work, Ottawa Public Health nurse Julie Turcotte said in an interview on Ottawa Morning on Thursday, which is World Suicide Prevention Day.

"We all know that talking about suicide is difficult and you want people to take the training because they have a personal vested interest in it," she said.

If a person's behaviour has changed or they seem down, Turcotte said a good approach is to simply ask about it. And if that person confirms things are not going well, for example by saying that they're "lost," Turcotte suggested repeating those same words back.

"Say, 'I'm hearing you say you're lost. Are you thinking of suicide?' And, surprisingly, if you ask the question in a very open, trusting manner, if that person is thinking of suicide, research shows that they are potentially likely to disclose that to you," she said.

"And then your job is then to listen to their story and to say, 'I'm here and I want to talk to you.' And then you obviously want to keep them safe and then you want to link them to what we call an intervention type of service."

Listen to the full interview below.

Need help?

Here are some local resources:

• Ottawa Distress Centre Line: 613-238-3311.
• Mental Health Crisis Line: 613-722-6914, or 1-866-996-0991 outside Ottawa.
• Child, Youth and Family Crisis Line for Eastern Ontario: 613-260-2360, or 1-877-377-7775 outside Ottawa.
• Kids Help Phone: 1-800-668-6868.