Third annual Veterans Suicide Awareness March energized by good news
As a sign of the good news that Misty Vaughan Allen and Kevin Burns were about to share Saturday at Western Nevada College (WNC), the weather remained dry and calm for the Third Annual Veterans Suicide Awareness March along West College Parkway.
More than three dozen marchers walked up West College Parkway to WNC in remembrance of the 22 United States military veterans nationwide who commit suicide every day.
"Thanks for the efforts of all of you, Nevada is no longer among the top 10 in the country for highest suicide rates," Misty Vaughan Allen of the Nevada Office of Suicide Prevention told attendees Saturday inside the audition on the WNC campus. "That's some good news."
Nevada dropped out of the top 10 in 2016, Vaughan Allen said, because of the emphasis that the state and veteran advocacy groups have placed on suicide prevention.
"Our goal should be to reduce the number of flags planted out there on that lawn," she said, referencing the more than 8,000 miniature American flags planted on the front lawn of the WNC administrative building in remembrance of the military veterans who took their own lives last year nationwide. "With the help of each of you, we can make that happen."
But Vaughan Allen said Nevada and the rest of the country still have improvements to make in outreach efforts to veterans in need of services and care.
The delivery of those services, she said, is critical to the prevention of suicide and reduction of those mortality rates.
"Of the 22 veterans who commit suicide in Nevada each year, eight of those are receiving care through the VA," she said. "But what about the other 14? Are they receiving any care at all? Have they slipped through the cracks?"
Vaughan Allen along with WNC Veterans Resource Center Coordinator Kevin Burns announced Saturday that a Nevada Senate committee has approved a bill mandating suicide prevention training for all health care professionals throughout the state.
Assembly Bill 105, passed by the Nevada Assembly, now moves the Senate floor for a vote after it had been reviewed by the Committee on Commerce, Labor and Energy amidst emotional testimony given in its defense.
If passed, the bill then goes to the desk of Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval for signature to become law.
Under this proposed law, health care professionals in Nevada would be required to complete suicide prevention training as part of their license or certification.
Advocates of the bill contend that better training and education on suicide prevention will help reduce the rates of suicides and suicide attempts.
For more information about suicide in Nevada, visit the Office of Suicide Prevention here, or call 775-687-0856.
To get help for a loved one suffering from suicidal thoughts, call the Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 or visit it online here.
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