Youth Mental Health First Aid

Through a program by Baptist Health, JOI Certified Athletic Trainers and personnel from Bishop Kenny High School participated in a two day program for Youth Mental Health First Aid. Suicide is the second leading cause of death for children ages 10-24. Each day in the U.S. there is an average of 5,240 attempts of suicide for children in grades from 7-12. The goal of the program is to train personnel to be able to give first aid for those children who are in need of professional help.

Similar to the American Red Cross First Aid Certificate for physical injuries. The program is based on breaking down the barriers and stigma which are attached to mental health. Certified Athletic Trainers normally are on the high school campuses each and every day for physical injuries. This is the next step in the recognition of mental health illnesses and the ability to get professional help for these students in need. In addition, each person who finishes the program, will receive a certificate for Youth Mental Health First Aid.

JOI ATC’s

All of the Certified Athletic Trainers from JOI attended the two day program. Athletes at the various high schools may seek out help from the ATC’s at their school. The ATC’s will be available to meet with students and then refer students as needed for professional help.  Finally, the goal of the JOI ATC’s is to be available to help and be a resource for students in need. 

Bishop Kenny High School 

The principle of Bishop Kenny, Todd Orlando, immediately became an advocate of this training for his staff. He said, “We must do as much as we can to recognize the signs and symptoms of mental health issues and get our students the help they need.” Bishop Kenny staff members who attended the seminar were teachers, campus ministry, guidance, coaches, and the school nurse. Therefore, students who are having issues may reach out to various personnel when they need help. The whole program would be worthwhile if we could just prevent one student from taking their life.

We know we cannot help everyone with a mental health issue, but maybe we can help “JUST 1.”  If you need to talk to someone, please call:

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
1-800-273-TALK (8255)  or

Baptist Behavioral Health
Services: Outpatient, Adult Day Stay and Inpatient Services
https://www.baptistjax.com/services/behavioral-health
24 hour Crisis Line: 904-202-7900

The JOI Foundation is honored to sponsor the Patrick Heinold Foundation.

The Patrick Heinold Foundation Basketball Tournament

The Patrick Heinold Foundation has a 3 on 3 Basketball Tournament on April 6th and 7th at The Bolles School. For more information, go to www.patrickheinoldfoundation.org.

Thank you to all our participants and volunteers for making the 2nd Annual Patrick’s 3v3 Basketball Tournament a great success.  We raised $41,000 to benefit our mission to promote suicide prevention and make teen mental health a priority in our community.  

To our team of volunteers, we could not have done this tournament without your help. We’ve received such positive feedback about how smooth and well-organized the event ran. 

Thank you so much for being such awesome volunteers!  

This event was made possible through generous support from our presenting and slam dunk sponsors. Therefore, through their commitment to support the education platform of the Patrick Heinold Foundation, we can improve awareness and prevention of suicide among our nation’s teens. We hope you’ll support these companies if you have the need for their services.

Finally, we look forward to seeing you again next year!

Hank, Kristin and Paige Heinold