Training Day at BSM

March 13, 2017

Here at Broad Street Ministry, we strive to be life-long learners who are constantly looking for ways to improve our capacity to serve our guests and our community. We actively seek out opportunities to gain new perspectives, new information, and new ways of doing things. This is what makes us able to offer the best care we can to our guests. February and March have been filled with opportunities for learning, as BSM staff and community members participated in trainings that better equip us to understand and respond to the needs of our guests.
First, we participated in The City of Philadelphia’s Mental Health First Aid Training. The training offered resources for managing mental health crises and covered the basics of responding to mental health crises, from supporting a person experiencing depression to recognizing symptoms of anxiety. Prevention Point followed up with a training on how to use NARCAN, an emergency treatment that helps counteract the life-threatening aspects of an opioid overdose. We learned how to administer the spray if faced with a potential overdose and deepened our knowledge of the opioid crisis that has been impacting Philadelphia.
We closed our training series with a De-escalation Workshop facilitated by the Mental Health Association of Southeastern PA. Our facilitators talked in detail about the impact of trauma on behavior and the brain, which gave new perspectives on the experiences of our guests and ourselves. The team tested out practical skills for helping vulnerable adults manage their emotions in stressful situations and learned some tips for managing our own.

The BSM staff were all so grateful for the chance to expand our knowledge in each of these areas. All of the trainings add important tools to our BSM toolkit. Each new training offers new skills and information that are incredibly valuable as we serve our most vulnerable guests and our fellow community members.

 

Written by: Brenna McGinnis