OSU Offering Free Mental Health Training to First Responders

Mental Illness impacts people living in Oklahoma and across America every day.

According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, one in five adults in America experience a mental illness, and if they are in distress, first responders are usually the first people they see at their door.

That's why Oklahoma State University wants to make sure departments across Oklahoma have the knowledge to respond effectively.  

OSU has been on the front lines of working to combat the Opioid Epidemic in Oklahoma, which often includes mental illness.

“Helping them develop tools to be able to better interact with some of those individuals in a better evidence-based manner, I think, is going to be better and more beneficial for everybody involved,” said Chair of Psychiatry at OSU Center for Health Sciences, Dr. Jason Beaman.

Many police departments in large cities have access to mental health training, but sometimes the smaller police departments don’t. So now OSU wants to help Green Country law enforcement officers, firefighters, and emergency personnel become better prepared to handle anything that comes their way.

"Drug use and mental illness seem to go hand in hand, and the problems associated with drug use come along with it," said Kiefer Police Chief Johnny O’Mara. 

Kiefer Police Chief Johnny O'Mara says they deal with people with mental illnesses on a daily basis, and because they're a small department, they're sometimes responding alone.

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“If you have a little bit of training to identify - 'hey, this person is having a severe mental breakdown,' you’ll be able to recognize that you need to back up a little bit and wait for the resources you are going to need to get this person safely out,” said Chief O’Mara.

Oklahoma State University received a federal grant that is allowing them to provide free training in mental health and substance abuse to Northeast Oklahoma first responders, who are on the front lines every day.

"They're coming into contact with the mentally ill way before a trained clinician is," said Dr. Beaman.

According to OSU, the program, called “Finding Hope” will train a wide variety of groups on the front lines assisting individuals with mental health disorders.

According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, 10.2 million adults in America are mentally ill and addicted to drugs.

And with the ongoing fight against opioids in Oklahoma, officers are coming into contact with addicts every day.

"Often individuals are using illicit substances to treat their mental illness, but often their mental illness is caused by their substance abuse," said Dr. Beaman.

During the training, first responders would learn several skills like mental health first aid, how to handle someone who is suicidal, or finding ways to de-escalate a situation. 

“We know that mentally ill individuals are at higher risk for incarceration, but also bad outcomes when they interact with police officers because of their delusional thinking, psychosis and agitation,” said Dr. Beaman.

OSU says their ultimate goal is to utilize mental health awareness training to reduce the impact of mental illness on affected individuals and it’s prevalence within Tulsa.

Oklahoma only requires two hours of mental health training per year for law enforcement officers, and Chief O'Mara says sometimes the content can get repetitive.

“We’re covering the same issues so I am pretty refreshed to see someone picking up an aspect of the training and moving it forward,” said Chief O’Mara.

Dr. Beaman says they are willing to travel to departments to provide this training free of charge.

They have had several sheriff’s departments, jails and fire departments already reach out.

To learn more about the program or to request a mental health presentation, contact Jessica Johnson at jessica.johnson@okstate.edu.