Southern Tier Health Care System Inc. has received a $45,000 grant from The John R. Oishei Foundation to support mental health services in Allegany, Cattaraugus and Chautauqua counties.

The Oishei Foundation funds projects and organizations that enhance quality of life and the vitality of the Buffalo-Niagara region.

One in five Americans will face a serious mental health condition this year. The Oishei Foundation grant will focus mental health first aid training and resources for an often-overlooked subset of the population: emergency medical service providers and other first responders.

“We couldn’t thank The John R. Oishei Foundation enough for its generosity toward this great need in our communities,” said Donna Kahm, Southern Tier Health Care System Inc. president and CEO and coordinator of the Southern Tier Emergency Medical System, which includes 93 local EMS agencies and more than 900 providers across the tri-county area. “In recent years, unfortunately, we’ve lost several first responders in the area by suicide. We hope to connect more members of our EMS family and other emergency personnel to the help they need. If we take care of our first responders, they’ll take care of our communities.”

Emergency personnel, both paid and volunteer, often suffer unseen emotional scars from the scenarios they experience, Kahm said. Mental health first aid focuses on their unique field experiences to highlight the direct sources of their pain. Once the individual acknowledges those feelings and feels comfortable addressing them in a peer-to-peer setting, they can feel more open to seeking and completing formal counseling or other services, she explained.

A nationwide survey of 4,000 first responders found that 6.6 percent had attempted suicide, according to the Journal of Emergency Medical Services. That’s more than 10 times the current suicide-attempt rate among the general population.

Funding through the Oishei Foundation will allow the Southern Tier Health Care System to mental health first aid training sessions for local EMS instructors. Once trained, these instructors will in turn teach local emergency personnel and community members to use the lifesaving actions within their own agencies and communities.

Conditions like depression and substance abuse often lead individuals on a slow, steady decline. Mental health first aid is a tactic used to help health providers and even average community members spot early warning signs of mental illness, provide initial support and direct that individual to appropriate services. The earlier the referral to appropriate treatment, Kahm said, the greater the chances for recovery.

“Over years of responding to fires, car crashes, overdoses, drownings and even homicides, first responders can put up walls as a coping mechanism,” she added. “In our rural communities, serviced mostly by volunteers, providers often respond to emergencies involving their families, friends and neighbors in life-or-death situations. Even failing to revive a complete stranger can be emotionally devastating to an EMS provider. Without talking about these feelings, they can bottle up inside a person to a breaking point.”