IWK mental health first aid course gaining in popularity

You won't find students doing chest compressions on a CPR dummy in Monique Yazbek's first aid class, but they are learning a set of tools.

"It's kind of like physical first aid that you might take, except it's focusing more on mental health issues as opposed to physical health issues," said Yazbek, a mental health coordinator at the IWK Health Centre.

Yazbek teaches mental health first aid for adults who interact with youth. It's a free four-week, 14-hour course offered through a partnership between Capital Health and the IWK.

The course covers four different sections: mental health and mental health problems, mood disorders, anxiety disorders and psychotic disorders.

Yazbek has been teaching the classes for four years and says they're gaining popularity.

"I'm definitely getting more calls from people who are interested in getting the training," Yazbek said. "When we put mental health first aid out in our program flyers we definitely get lots of interest."