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Consortium discusses efforts to curb suicide, drunken driving

A consortium working to improve the health of Hill County heard updates from various task forces within the county at a meeting Tuesday at the District 4 Human Resources Development Council building.

Amber Spring, of the Mental Health Awareness Task Force, said her group is planning on partnering up with Havre High School in September during National Suicide Prevention Week, which falls on the days surrounding Sept. 10 — World Suicide Prevention Day.

“We’re going to try to work with the Key Club again to do a community effort and maybe do an ‘Out of the Darkness Walk’ which is for suicide prevention in September,” she said.

According to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention website, http://www.afsp.org, Out of the Darkness walks “raise awareness about depression and suicide, and provide comfort and assistance to those who have lost someone to suicide.”

Amanda Christofferson, of the Substance Abuse Task Force, said Rocky Boy is on board with the “Every 15 Minute” program that her group is planning.

According to http://www.every15minutes.com, this program is an interactive event designed to show teenagers the potentially dangerous consequences of drinking alcohol and texting while driving. A car crash is re-enacted and students are chosen at random to “die.” The goal of this event is to offer real-life experience without the real-life risks.

“They just need to figure how they’re going to work it, what exactly is going to be done, what our part is going to be... ,” Christofferson said. “(Rocky Boy is) thinking more of just doing the possible mock accident and the discussion of what can happen to you if you get in an accident as a person driving (while impaired or distracted). It’s kind of a scare tactic, yet all-around awareness of how it affects the parents, the teachers, the community.”

Christofferson also said her group is still waiting to get approval from Havre High School.

For more information on the task groups, visit http://www.hillcountyhealth.com.

 

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