Question, Persuade, and Refer
QPR stands for Question, Persuade, and Refer - the 3 simple steps anyone can learn to help save a life from suicide. Just as people trained in CPR and the Heimlich Maneuver help save thousands of lives each year, people trained in QPR learn how to recognize the warning signs of a suicide crisis and how to question, persuade, and refer someone to help. QPR can be learned in our Gatekeeper course in as little as one hour.
What is a Gatekeeper?
According to the Surgeon General's National Strategy for Suicide Prevention (2001), a gatekeeper is someone in a position to recognize a crisis and the warning signs that someone may be contemplating suicide. Gatekeepers can be anyone, but include parents, friends, neighbors, teachers, ministers, doctors, nurses, office supervisors, squad leaders, foreman, police officers, advisors, caseworkers, firefighters, and many others who are strategically positioned to recognize and refer someone at risk of suicide.
As a QPR-trained Gatekeeper you will learn to:
Recognize the warning signs of suicide
Know how to offer hope
Know how to get help and save a life
If you are interested in attending and/or hosting a QPR training for your group, please contact our community health educator, Daisy Hernandez at Daisy.Hernandez@Middletownct.gov or at 860-638-4962.
If you or someone you know needs support now, call or text 988 or chat via 988Lifeline.org. 988 connects you with a trained crisis counselor who can help.
The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (formerly known as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline) is a network of more than 200 state and local call centers funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) through Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and administered by Vibrant Emotional Health. In Connecticut, the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services and Department of Children and Families fund the Connecticut 988 Contact Center operated by the United Way of Connecticut/211. 988 Contact Center services include rapid 24/7 access to trained crisis contact center staff who can help people experiencing suicidal, substance use and other mental health crises, provide referrals to resources, and perform warm transfers to mobile crisis services or emergency services as needed/desired.