The Department of Health Injury Prevention Control Program is sponsoring a two-day suicide prevention workshop on May 8 and 9.

Call Pua Kaninau-Santos at the Queen Lili'uokalani Children's Center for more details, 553-5369 ext. 2228.

It is called the Molokai Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST) workshop. On Molokai there are three community-based trainers (Na Pu’uwai, Queen Lili’uokalani Children’s Center, and Aloha House).

Hawai’i youth are amongst the highest risk group for attempts. Suicide is the second leading cause of death for those 15 years of age up to 55 years.

Kaninau-Santos is an advocate for suicide prevention awareness and is the current 2008 recipient of the Sandy Martin Grassroots National Award.

There were 11 suicides among Molokai residents over the past seven-year period, making this the leading cause of fatal injuries.

More than one-third (38 percent) of the 52 injury-related deaths among Molokai residents were suicides. (Motor vehicle crashes were second (seven deaths).