Emergency Assistance

Suicide loss is devastating. Friends, family, churches, schools, and communities are left reeling whenever a life is lost. And the risk of copycat suicide attempts increases significantly with each suicide death experienced by a community—no one is an island, so every loss has long-ranging ripple effects of pain and suffering.

Suicidal thoughts are a type of “misery index,” and are commonly related to depression or other experiences of mental suffering. While having suicidal thoughts is not an uncommon experience, such thoughts tend to come in waves and acute risk tends to decrease in a short amount of time after peaking—few people act on suicidal thoughts. We can all play a role in helping someone who is struggling with suicidal thoughts to stay alive through that acute risk period. Asking direct questions about suicidal thoughts, offering a listening ear, providing healthy distractions, removing lethal means, engaging in safety planning, and connecting the individual with a treatment provider are all examples of effective interventions. We know that experiences of connection and belonging are the best preventers of suicide, and creating those experiences is part of what we do here at Calvin University as we live out our mission to “think deeply, act justly, and live wholeheartedly.” We are a community.

Whether you are a Calvin student or staff/faculty, we hope that you will take some time to engage with the free training resources and suicide prevention materials that we have gathered here. Let us know how else we can help you feel equipped and prepared as part of our safety net at Calvin University!

QPR training

The Center for Counseling and Wellness provides free suicide prevention training to students and staff/faculty at Calvin University, utilizing the Question Persuade Refer (QPR) approach. Scheduled trainings for the 2023-24 academic year are as follows:

Faculty/staff QPR training
Thursday, October 26, 3:30-5:30p.m.
Thursday, March 28, 9:00-11:00am

Student QPR training
Thursday, October 5, 3:30-5:30p.m.
Thursday, March 14, 3:30-5:30pm

To reserve a spot at one of these trainings, or to schedule QPR for your group, department, organization, or class, please reach out to counseling@calvin.edu.

ZeroSuicide training resources

The following ZeroSuicide training materials are free and open-source. Created with both professionals and laypeople in mind, the materials provide a set of easy-access assessment & referral tools for our campus in our shared mission of helping all members of our community to "live wholeheartedly" through effective suicide prevention efforts.

Assessing suicide risk

The Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS) is a brief, evidence-based assessment tool created for both clinicians and laypeople to use in determining suicide risk. It is easy to access, administer, and score. Using the Columbia Scale will help you know whether an individual is in need of professional intervention to maintain safety. You can use it even if you have no training in mental health!

Training in the Columbia Scale (C-SSRS) can be accessed through the Columbia Lighthouse Project. The following YouTube videos serve as a useful starting point:

The Columbia Scale can be accessed in the following formats for use in safety assessment:


Assessing access to means

Counseling on Access to Lethal Means (CALM) training will help you learn to reduce access to the means people use to kill themselves. Reducing access slows down response time during times of acute suicidality, thereby reducing risk of impulsive action and helping to save lives.


Supporting effective safety planning

The Stanley-Brown Safety Plan is an evidence-based approach to decreasing suicide risk. Safety planning can be carried out independently, with the support of family/friends, and/or with a professional.

The Stanley-Brown Safety Plan can be accessed in the following formats:

Recommendations for media & suicide prevention messaging

Emergency Assistance