Black Dog Riders
Building Healthier Communities
On 18th July, seventeen Black Dog Riders met in Busselton WA to be trained in
Mental Health First Aid.
Amongst the Black Dog Riders were firies, community workers, tradies, nurses, farmers, businessmen. All had come together on a rainy weekend because they care about the people and communities around them.
Training them in the 12 hour Standard Mental Health First Aid course was Black Dog Ride's Graeme Raine, a certified Mental Health First Aid Instructor.
The Black Dog Riders learned the signs and symptoms of the common and disabling mental health problems, how to provide initial help, where and how to get professional help, what sort of help has been shown by research to be effective, and how to provide first aid in a crisis situation using the Mental Health First Aid action plan acronym ALGEE.
Of course, being Black Dog Riders, there was a unique perspective amongst participants and "catastrophic bike failure" was probably not the answer Graeme Raine was looking for when exploring what could trigger a mental health crisis!
The course participants all completed the course successfully and can now return to their communities from Perth to Kalgoorlie to Popanyinning to Denmark and apply the MHFA skills they have learned.
These MHFA Trained Black Dog Riders will be on the Black Dog Ride to the Red Centre and the Black Dog Ride across America. If you see a Black Dog Rider wearing a "MHFA Trained" patch, you can ask for their initial "first aid" advice if you or someone you know is experiencing a mental health crisis.
Thank you to Black Dog Riders Annie Riegger, Chris Sainty, David and Diane Holland, Fiona Duffield, Gary Pontifex, Jaye Edwards, Kevin Hicks, Malcolm Fawcett, Michael Bright, Neale Denham, Ray Sherry, Rob Hill, Steve and Barbara Thomas, Trevor Flugge, and Warren Jones for their awesomely enthusiastic participation in this life saving course!
Our gratitude also goes out to Black Dog Ride's Graeme Raine, for facilitating a fantastic learning experience for all participants.
You can check out all of the pics of the weekend on the BDR Facebook Album here.
If you'd like to help Black Dog Ride fund the roll out of the teen MHFA course to Australian High Schools so that young people can learn and apply mental health first aid amongst their peers, you can make a donation by hitting the big red donate button at the top of this page.
