Taylorville Memorial Hospital Foundation sponsored another Mental Health First Aid course held on July 25 at TMH. The TMH Foundation proudly covered the fee for local participants, including five members of the Taylorville Fire Department, who attended the all-day course to learn how to identify and respond to adults showing signs of mental illness and substance abuse.

“It’s a strategic focus for the TMH Foundation to support community health outreach initiatives such as Mental Health First Aid training,” said Foundation executive director Raedena Ryan. “Healthcare is so much more than what happens within the walls of the hospital. We are committed to helping our community and through the generosity of our donors, we are able to support programs such as this.”

Mental Health First Aid teaches signs of addictions and mental illnesses, a five-step action plan to assess a situation and help, the impact of mental health and substance use disorders, and local resources and where to turn for help.

“Most people know how to recognize and appropriately react to medical emergencies, but there is little knowledge in the general public about what to do in a mental health crisis,” said Melissa Thomas, TMH foundation and community health specialist. "This course provides people in our community with the resources they need so they know how to respond."

Both youth and adult courses are taught periodically throughout the year. The next course will take place this fall, date to be determined. The $16.95 fee is to provide training materials and the TMH Foundation will again sponsor any Christian County resident who would like to attend. Anyone interested in participating in the next Mental Health First Aid course may contact Melissa Thomas at 217-824-1601 or email thomas.melissa@mhsil.com for more information.

The four hospitals of Memorial Health System and Memorial Behavioral Health collaborate to offer Mental Health First Aid classes for communities in central Illinois.

Taylorville Memorial Hospital is a 25-bed critical access hospital located at 201 E. Pleasant Street in Taylorville and is an affiliate of Memorial Health System. For more information about TMH, visit TaylorvilleMemorial.org.