Next Steps to Saving a Life

What’s the next step when you pull up to a gas pump? 
What are the steps to making pasta? 
What order do you put your clothes on (provided you’re not Superman)? 
What happens at a stop sign? 

For most of us, the way we do these things is ingrained in us. We’ve done them so many times, we probably don’t think about them anymore. 

There are other situations that occur less frequently for which we need to memorize what to do. 

What are the signs of a heart attack in a man? In a woman? 
What are the signs of a stroke? 
What to do if a rancher says the hospital might be necessary? 

We CAN learn what to do in each of these situations and we should. You should know what your first, second, and third steps will be. There are fridge magnets, flyers, and all kinds of internet guidance for these situations. 

Do you know what your next steps are if someone tells you that they don’t want to be alive anymore? Do you have a plan for if a friend says, “I just wish I could go to sleep forever”? Have you thought about what to say to the friend who is always funny and has now gone quiet? Have you practiced how to check on a friend who has made an attempt before? 

September is the month for a very specific kind of a prevention. A time to remind people that we want them to stay alive, to be with us, to make it through to see what comes next. It’s a month to practice what your steps are. 

Call 988. 
Phone a trusted mental health counselor or someone who can connect you to one.
Stay with a person. 
Phone another friend and tag team keeping company. 

There’s a word I am not using in this post, not because saying it can make it happen. No word has that kind of power. It’s because using the word will sink the post and keep folks from seeing it. And the point of this post is eyeballs on the words and making a plan. A plan to help. A plan to accompany. A plan to keep more beloveds alive. 

Already this month I made two posts about the same subject and they were barely seen. I won’t have that. 

I see you. I care about you. I want you to be here. I want to help you help the ones you love to stay as well. 

Let’s work together to memorize those next steps. Be the one who knows what to do. Be the one who helps someone stay.