About 26 percent of Americans 18 and older live with a mental health disorder, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness.

Suicide is the second leading cause of death among college students, with as many as 1,100 committing suicide every year.

Mental health disorders can have a large effect on a college student’s academic success. It impacts students mentally, emotionally and socially.

“Mental health issues in the college student population, such as depression, anxiety and eating disorders, are associated with lower GPA and higher probability of dropping out of college,” according to Active Minds, an organization focused on mental health.

Oswego State’s Student Association Volunteer Ambulance Corporation (SAVAC) is beginning training on how to deal with situations involving mental health. Stephanie Marquesano, founder of the Harris Project, agreed to deliver the eight-hour certification course Saturday. She has been all over New York giving out training sessions, but Saturday was her first group with mostly EMTs.

SAVAC Assistant Director of Operations Jacob Zive worked with Katherine Wolfe-Lyga, the Director of the Counseling Services Center at the Mary Walker Health Center, to find a way to better help students on campus suffering from mental health disorders.

“It was decided that YMHFA (Youth Mental Health First Aid) training offered to primarily SAVAC personnel and other various members from around the campus would be the best course of action in starting to improve our response to such scenarios,” Zive said.

Zive said training is being implemented so SAVAC responders will equipped to deal with a mental health crisis.

“In coming weeks, Katherine Wolfe-Lyga and I will be developing policies and procedures designed around what was taught to lay the framework for providing the highest quality of care for individuals suffering from a mental health emergency.” Zive said.

Both Zive and Wolfe-Lyga said they are eager to work on developing these new procedures and that they have already seen positive outcomes from the unique training opportunity.

YMHFA, is a five step action plan on how to help young individuals in crisis and also non-crisis situations. It includes an eight-hour certification course to help create understanding of mental health disorders and COD. From the program, you will learn how to identify and take action when someone is in crisis, or not. They cover topics like depression, anxiety, trauma, psychosis and substance use.