Category: Case Studies

How Snohomish County’s Emergency Communications Center Equipped Their Team to Handle Callers Experiencing Mental Health Crises with Confidence

• Organization: Snohomish County 911 (SNO911)
• Location: Snohomish County, Washington
• Team Size: 111 full-time dispatchers and 16 supervisors (168 total staff)
• Calls Managed: Average of 1,500 emergency (911) calls per day
• Training Engagement: Recurring suicide prevention and active listening sessions as part of the SNO911 New Hire Academy (11+ trainings to date)
• Primary Contact: Alanna Cole, Office of Training and Standards Supervisor)

The Challenge: Preparing Call Takers for the Unthinkable

911 call takers are often the first to hear someone in crisis—and the only voice on the line that might keep them safe. But SNO911 recognized an opportunity to boost existing training in the area of callers in crisis. Adding tools and language that help dispatchers better manage their role in mental health-related calls was a welcome endeavor.

With 911 at the forefront of issues related to mental health and substance abuse in the community, SNO911 brought in Jessi to provide practical, pressure-tested training that matched the weight of the work.

The Solution: Role-Specific Training That Performs Under Pressure

Jessi partnered with SNO911 to design a recurring training experience that gives new hires tactical skills from day one—especially when it comes to managing callers experiencing suicidal ideation, emotionally dysregulated individuals, and critical mental health incidents.

Each session includes:

• Strategic debriefs focused on what works, what doesn’t, and why
• Suicide prevention frameworks customized specifically for emergency dispatchers
• Communication strategies rooted in crisis psychology and active listening skills
• Live role-playing scenarios that simulate actual calls—with real-time coaching

The Impact: Clearer Communication. Calmer Responses. Fewer Escalations.

After implementing this training across nine new hire academies thus far, SNO911 saw a shift—not just in what trainees knew, but in how they handled their calls in real time.

The most tangible outcome? Call takers are better equipped to process complex mental health-related calls more effectively—with confidence.

The benefit hasn’t stopped with mental health calls. Trainees are using the same skills to de-escalate everything from domestic disputes to emotionally volatile emergencies—and because the training is hands-on and high-energy, even the quietest participants stay engaged and walk away with tools they remember.

What This Means for Other Organizations

When you operate in a high-stakes environment—whether it’s a dispatch center, a crisis line, or a frontline team—your people can’t afford to freeze when someone’s life is on the line.

SNO911 didn’t wait for a tragedy. They built a training foundation that’s changing how new dispatchers think, speak, and respond under pressure.

Disclaimer: While this training equips SNO911 call takers with enhanced communication tools and crisis response strategies, it is not intended to replace clinical intervention or professional mental health services. Dispatchers are not licensed behavioral health professionals, and their role remains focused on triaging emergencies and coordinating appropriate responder support. The training is designed to help call takers manage high-stress interactions more effectively within their scope of responsibility—not to diagnose, treat, or resolve underlying mental health conditions.

How Everett Transit Equipped Its Drivers and Staff with Tactical Listening Skills to Prevent Violence Before It Starts

• Organization: Everett Transit
• Location: Everett, Washington
• Training Audience: ~100 attendees including bus drivers, inspectors, supervisors, security staff, and administrative personnel
• Training Delivered: Verbal De-Escalation Training focused on tactical active listening skills
• Primary Contact: Brian Senyitko, Operations Supervisor (Risk Management)

The Challenge: Verbal Confrontations Escalating Into Violence

Public transit operators work on the front lines of community safety. Every day, drivers and staff interact with hundreds of passengers; most are routine, but some become emotionally escalated.

Everett Transit’s leadership noticed a troubling pattern: a growing number of physical attacks on drivers that began as verbal confrontations.

To address this risk proactively, Operations Supervisor Brian Senyitko sought training that would help staff:

• Enforce rules without escalating tension
• Respond effectively to emotionally dysregulated passengers
• De-escalate conflicts before they turn into violence

The goal wasn’t just awareness. It was giving staff specific tools they could use in the moment.

The Solution: Tactical Listening Skills for High-Pressure Situations

Jessi delivered a focused verbal de-escalation training built from the L.I.F.E. Model of crisis intervention, concentrating on the first and most foundational step: Listen.

Instead of theory-heavy instruction, the training provided 12 tactical active listening skills that transit employees could use to stabilize emotionally escalated interactions.

The session emphasized:

• Practical language for tense conversations
• Real-world examples of de-escalation in action
• Small communication adjustments that reduce defensiveness
• Techniques for building rapport quickly with strangers under stress

With roughly 100 employees in attendance – from frontline drivers to administrative staff – the session equipped the entire team with a shared communication framework.

Participants highlighted several elements that made the training resonate, including:

• “Story about the boy who wanted more from his father”
• “Real world examples”
• “Recommendation for using ‘and’ instead of ‘but’”
• “Delivery of material”
• “Story about the boy who wanted more from his father”

The Impact: Immediate Gains in Confidence and De-Escalation Skills

Post-training survey results showed meaningful improvements across multiple indicators of effective crisis communication.

• 33% increase in confidence in participants’ ability to de-escalate someone in crisis
• 22% increase in intent to intervene when faced with someone experiencing a crisis
• 75% reported meaningful improvement in their verbal de-escalation skills
• 58.3% reported improvement in their ability to build rapport with someone in crisis
• 50% reported improvement in empathy and reduced stigma toward people experiencing mental health crises
• 50% reported increased belief that they can positively impact someone in crisis

These outcomes reflect a shift not just in knowledge, but in mindset and readiness. Participants also described tangible benefits they took away from the session:

• “Methods to build rapport with customers.”
• “Gave me some tools to use in conversations with someone in crisis.”
• “Improved confidence with de-escalation.”
• “A better perspective for how to communicate with people in a crisis.”
• “More tools for de-escalation.”

Interestingly, the tools resonated even beyond the workplace. This highlights a powerful truth about crisis communication: the skills that prevent workplace conflict are the same ones that strengthen everyday human connection.

What This Means for Other Organizations

When employees interact with the public – whether on buses, job sites, hospital floors, or customer service counters – conflict is inevitable.

The difference between a tense conversation and a dangerous escalation often comes down to communication in the first few moments.

Everett Transit recognized that protecting their drivers didn’t just mean physical safety measures. It meant giving their team the verbal tools to stabilize situations before they spiral.

Organizations that equip their people with these skills don’t just reduce risk; they build teams that are more confident, capable, and resilient in high-pressure interactions.

The final word…

De-escalation isn’t about saying the perfect thing.

It’s about listening well enough to lower the temperature of the moment and change the outcome of the interaction.

For Everett Transit, investing in those skills means their people are better prepared to handle difficult encounters safely, professionally, and with confidence.

How One Southern Campus Addressed Their Higher-Than-Average Suicide Attempt Rates with Real, Relevant, and Actionable Training

• Organization: Northwestern State University (NSULA)
• Location: Natchitoches, Louisiana
• Student Population: Approximately 3,000 students living on campus + commuter students
• Training Delivered: 3 trainings, the most recent of which was a suicide prevention training targeted at student-athletes
• Primary Contacts: Dr. Yonna Pasch, Director of Student Affairs, and Madysen Morgan, Student Government Association (SGA) President

The Challenge: Strong Campus Culture, but Heavy Topics with Hollow Delivery

With a student population that includes a large number of commuters, international students, and first-generation college attendees, NSULA has built a culture that feels more like home than a traditional campus.

But even with that cultural support, students still weren’t getting the tools they needed to manage mental health challenges on their own. NSULA’s internal data revealed something concerning: rates of suicide attempts were higher than those at similar institutions, and students couldn’t always quickly access the support they needed.

The school had tried to fill the gap with education—but most of it fell flat in a death-by-PowerPoint style.

What the campus needed wasn’t more content. It was more connection. It was a conversation about suicide prevention that didn’t just focus on the bad, but instead taught students how to build themselves up and be their own best advocates for strong mental health.

The Solution: Real Talk That Stuck with Students

When NSULA brought Jessi in to speak, they were hoping for something more impactful than the usual wellness lecture. What they got was a training that students immediately recognized as different. Students didn’t just stay engaged—they walked out asking for more.

By balancing clinical accuracy with real-world delivery, Jessi made the subject approachable—and gave students tools they could immediately apply in their lives and conversations.

The Impact: Suicide Prevention and Active Listening Infiltrated the Campus

NSULA doesn’t just host training and then hope for the best; they take action on what they learn. One of the changes the campus has made in recent years is adding suicide hotline stickers to the back of every student ID.

The impact also showed up in how students started talking to each other, especially in the wake of a tumultuous and polarizing political election. This wasn’t just about checking a box. It was about changing the culture.

What This Means for Other Organizations

In today’s climate, mental health often ends up on the chopping block when budgets get tight. But NSULA made the intentional decision to keep it on the table—because they understood the cost of doing nothing.

If your organization serves people navigating identity, pressure, transition, or uncertainty—whether that’s students or employees—they need tools that actually meet them where they are, even if they don’t know they need them yet.

The final word…

“I know multiple people that have committed suicide. It sucks, and it’s awful; it’s real, and it’s something that’s happening every day. It’s not something you can just ignore. If you don’t give students the avenue to understand or learn how to help someone that is feeling this way, are you really helping out your students all the ways you can?”

– Madysen Morgan

Carroll College Strengthened Its Suicide Prevention Culture—And Empowered a Whole Community

• Organization: Carroll College
• Location: Helena, Montana
• Students Served: Approximately 1,100
• Training Engagement: In-person suicide prevention training delivered to students, staff, and Helena-area community members
• Primary Contact: Beth Demmons, Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) and Community Educator, Carroll College Wellness Center

The Challenge: Supportive Systems, Still a Missing Piece

The Carroll College Fighting Saints already had a robust mental health support structure: a culture that encourages all to seek help when needed, suicide prevention training within the Helena Public School System for students starting in middle school, mental health education in the broader Helena community, and a student counseling center that hasn’t had a waitlist in over two years. But this small college was looking for more.

Raising awareness was no longer enough. They needed training that helped people stay grounded when someone opened up about suicidal ideation—and gave them practice with the actual words to respond with compassion and clarity.

The Solution: Real Language. Real Scenarios. Real Impact.

Carroll brought Jessi in to deliver a suicide prevention training during Suicide Prevention Month that went beyond theory—giving participants both the language to use in the moment and a safe space to practice it.

This training wasn’t just for students or staff. Carroll opened the session to the greater Helena community—and turnout reflected the need. More Helena community members attended than Carroll staff and students.

The biggest gap that Carroll was trying to fill in their existing mental health awareness programs was practice through role play on how to intervene in a suicidal crisis, plus tactical communication strategies to support the person in crisis.

With live practice, attuned audience interaction, and language that was immediately usable, participants walked away feeling prepared for the kinds of conversations that can change—or save—a life.

The Impact: Earlier Interventions. Less Bottlenecking. Broader Access to Care.

One of the clearest shifts? Improved staff knowledge of how to work with someone who’s having suicidal ideation—not just awareness, but asking the hard questions and intervening at the appropriate level.

What This Means for Other Organizations

Montana has ranked in the top five states for suicide rates in the nation for the last 30 years. Beth shared why:

• A culture of self-reliance contributing to stigma associated with mental health, as well as unhealthy coping strategies such as alcohol
• High-altitude living increases metabolic stress caused by long-term oxygen deprivation
• Alack of Vitamin D absorption, despite the sunshine, which correlates with higher rates of depression
• A vast rural community resulting in social isolation and a lack of behavioral health services (which means emergency responders might be hours away)
• Easy access to firearms

If you work in an environment where your people are isolated, under pressure, reluctant to talk about mental health—or expected to stay strong no matter what—these risks may already be present in your team.

Our training gives your team the tools to recognize suicidal ideation, respond to it, and prevent it—before it becomes a crisis.

The final word…

“Education is paramount for anything that we do, and why would it be any different for suicide prevention? Prevention and effective intervention not only save the life of a person in crisis; prevention impacts the lives of all those touched by attempted or completed suicide. We all have a part to play in helping those in need. It’s being a good neighbor, and it’s just what Saints do.”

– Beth Demmons

How a Washington State Crisis Intervention Training Program Strengthened Officer Communication Through Tactical Active Listening

• Organization: King County Sheriff’s Office (KCSO) Crisis Intervention Training (CIT)
• Location: King County, Washington
• Law Enforcement Officers Trained: Approximately 250 annually from multiple agencies across King County
• Training Delivered: Recurring suicide prevention (11+ to date) and active listening training delivered as a core module within Washington State’s mandated 40-hour CIT program
• Primary Contact: Megan Ross, CIT Coordinator, Deputy, and Negotiator for KCSO

The Challenge: Too Much Problem-Solving, Not Enough Active Listening

In high-stress law enforcement situations, officers are trained to take action—and fast. But that impulse to fix things immediately can sometimes work against them, especially when they’re dealing with someone in emotional distress.

CIT training covers a wide range of mental health-related information and response tactics, but the CIT coordinators wanted to take it one step further and provide hands-on instruction on how to listen—and how to use listening as a tactical tool.

The Solution: Energy, Practice, and Real-World Relevance

After Megan and Jessi met at a conference in Omaha (despite living in adjacent counties!), Jessi was brought in to teach a recurring 2-hour block focused on active listening, motivational interviewing, and suicide prevention, with active listening as the cornerstone.

The session was placed at the end of the day in the middle of the week of CIT, yet it consistently keeps officers engaged and participating. Rather than presenting a lecture, Jessi’s training uses interactive practice, in-the-weeds discussion, and tools that apply in a broad variety of situations.

The Impact: Officer Engagement and System-Wide Implications

The transformation wasn’t just theoretical—it was immediate and noticeable within the Peer Team. While KCSO doesn’t track outcomes for individual blocks of CIT, what’s clear is this: good active listening has the ability to decrease uses of force and improve officer safety.

At a time when public trust, internal morale, and mental health outcomes are all under pressure for the law enforcement community, this training gives officers something that makes a difference right away: the ability to communicate with people in crisis, and to do so independently.

Many law enforcement officers have a tendency to call for a negotiator or mental health professional when high-level active listening is needed, but Megan’s goal with CIT is to empower patrol deputies to deploy those skills themselves.

What This Means for Other Organizations

Active listening isn’t just for crisis negotiators or mental health professionals. It’s for anyone in a high-pressure role who has to interact with people on their worst days.

If your people are tasked with managing clients, community members, or peers under stress, the same skills that improve law enforcement outcomes can transform your organization, too.

The final word…

“I have a background in education—I used to teach—and I absolutely loved how engaging Jessi’s presentation was and the energy that she brought. I could tell that she was knowledgeable and she knew her stuff; I wasn’t really so worried about that part as much as I was like, ‘She is so good in front of this audience.’ Let’s be real, cops are challenging, and it can be very, very difficult to teach to this demographic of individuals, especially the ones that have been doing this for a while. I just knew from watching Jessi [in Omaha] she would be able to handle her own in front of our audience. She’s highly engaging and really does such a great job of classroom participation and interaction and bringing the points home. I was like, ‘I need to get her to teach for this program.’”

– Megan Ross

How Two Rural Fire Districts Equipped Their Teams for Suicide Prevention with Tactical, Real-World Training

• Organizations: Snohomish County Fire District #5 & Sky Valley Fire
• Location: Sultan & Gold Bar, Washington
• Combined Responders: 112 (career, part-time, and volunteer)
• Citizens Served: 15,454
• Annual Calls for Service: ~2,900
• Training Delivered: Suicide Prevention & Active Listening Training
• Primary Contact: Steve Tonkin, Peer Team Coordinator, Fire Chaplain, Family Support Officer

The Challenge: No Tools for the Toughest Conversations

Both SCFD #5 and Sky Valley Fire serve expansive rural areas with limited mental health infrastructure. While their responders face the same high-stress, high-trauma incidents as urban teams, their peer support members lacked the tactical training to intervene confidently in crisis situations—particularly related to suicide.

The Solution: Tactical Training That Builds Trust

The departments partnered with Jessi to provide embedded, real-world suicide prevention and active listening training specifically tailored to the fire service. The goal: equip their Peer Team with practical tools, not theory—and do so through an instructor already embedded in their world.

• Scenario-based suicide prevention training using the L.I.F.E. Model
• Role-specific active listening strategies
• High-engagement instruction tailored for firefighters and EMTs
• Localized context from a trusted mental health professional who also responds to calls

The Impact: Confidence, Competence, and Culture Shift

The transformation wasn’t just theoretical—it was immediate and noticeable within the Peer Team.

• Team-wide increase in confidence in handling mental health and suicide-related conversations
• Active listening tools applied in peer interactions, patient care, and team leadership
• Desire for annual refresher training due to the value and engagement
• Improved trust and rapport between fire districts and local mental health responders

What This Means for Other Organizations

These departments didn’t wait for tragedy. They opted for real-world, preventive training—and the result was a peer support team that feels equipped to step in before crisis hits.

The final word…

“With 23 years in the military and 17+ years as a first responder, I cannot begin to estimate how many instructors I have listened to. I say, listen to, because not all instructors are good at educating others. Jessi’s presentations and demeanor are among the best that I have ever encountered. She educates in such a way that the students want, and do, give her their full attention. Though the classes she gave us consisted of an abundant amount of information, she presented it all to us in a manner that we were not overwhelmed. Her instruction techniques ensured that we all had a clear understanding of the information that she was providing us with.”

– Steve Tonkin