The American army
September is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month and Team Tobyhanna members have many resources available for them and their families at Tobyhanna Army Depot (TYAD).
One such resource is the Employee Service Center (ESC), which is available 24/7 through the ESC Helpline at 570-615-5591 for immediate assistance. The ESC offers brief, solution-oriented advice to help employees or their families balance any difficulties they may be having.
When someone calls the hotline, ESC staff will confirm whether the person in need is a threat to themselves or someone else. If so, emergency first responders will be called to provide immediate assistance. ESC staff ask the same questions about who, what, when, where and why to everyone who calls so they can find out what the individual is doing and where they are. They make sure to stay engaged in the conversation and try to get crucial information that can be used to ensure safety. When the crisis is over, ESC staff work with the person to connect them to community resources.
In an effort to improve the community around them, ESC works to promote educational awareness, conducts annual training, normalizes conversations about suicide, and operates a proactive Peer 2 Peer education program. These are all great resources that provide beneficial mental health and suicide awareness training.
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The Peer 2 Peer program is designed to educate employees on mental health, substance abuse, sexual assault, sexual harassment, and suicide prevention to better understand the signs and symptoms of each. Once employees are trained, they are given a yellow lanyard that will allow other employees to identify them as someone they can talk to about anything that might be bothering them. If further assistance is needed, peers can escort the employee to ESC or call 911 for immediate assistance.
Currently, the ESC is preparing a training called LivingWorks ASIST. ASIST stands for Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training. The training is a two-day, face-to-face workshop with powerful audiovisuals, discussions and simulations. Participants learn how to prevent suicide by recognizing the signs, performing a skilled intervention, and developing a safety plan to keep someone alive. Three ESC employees recently received certification to lead the workshop and will be planning trainings for the Tobyhanna community in the coming months.
ESC staff warn that the signs of suicide are not black or white. They are complex and can look different depending on the person. Suicidal thoughts can happen to anyone, even if they don’t have a mental illness. Statistics show that approximately 5% of the population of the United States have suicidal thoughts at some point. Showing empathy to others and letting them know they are not alone is an important step in letting those with suicidal thoughts know that their thoughts are common and treatable.
ESC supervisor Ricardo Horn said people with suicidal thoughts often suffer, are isolated and don’t know what to do. “Asking someone if they are thinking of suicide shows them that you care and that there may be another option. Although it is an uncomfortable question to ask, it can save a life.
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Knowing more about suicide can help prevent it. It’s important to look for the signs and let others know they’re not alone.
Raising suicide prevention awareness is directly aligned with Tobyhanna’s long-term strategic plan, TOBY2028-TOBY 2035 – specifically the line of effort Investing in Our People. The plan focuses on positioning the depot to be competitive in the future.
Tobyhanna Army Depot is a recognized leader in providing world-class logistics support for C5ISR systems across the Department of Defense. Tobyhanna’s business philosophy, dedicated workforce and electronics expertise ensure that the depot is the joint C5ISR supplier of choice for all branches of the armed forces and industry partners.
Tobyhanna’s unparalleled capabilities include full logistics support for sustainment, overhaul and repair, fabrication and fabrication, engineering design and development, systems integration, post-production software support, technology insertion, modification, foreign military sales and global field support to our joint combatants.
About 3,500 people are employed at Tobyhanna, which is located in the Pocono Mountains of northeastern Pennsylvania. Tobyhanna Army Depot is part of the United States Army Communications and Electronics Command. Based at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, the command’s mission is to equip the soldier with winning C5ISR capabilities.
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