Gatekeepers: Youth Suicide Prevention Awareness (Update 2015)

This course meets the requirements of Act 770 of 2011. Gatekeepers is a suicide awareness and prevention program made available through the Arkansas Youth Suicide Prevention Task Force. The purpose is to heighten suicide awareness in adults by providing knowledge about warning signs, risk factors, and protective factors. Many suicides are preventable if adults can recognize the warning signs and respond with specific intervention skills. Objectives for this course include: recognize the warning signs, distinguish between facts and myths about youth suicide, understand the risk factors for suicidal behaviors, demonstrate intervention strategies, and identify resources at school and in the community.

This presentation includes A Life Saved, a true story about a suicide intervention told by students and a guidance counselor. The video is appropriate to illustrate the value of teaching suicide prevention.

Bell Ringer: A Concussion Awareness Course for Arkansas Coaches

Every year, as many as 3.8 million brain injuries occur in athletics, and they are more common among children and students than star athletes. We often hear about concussions in professional football, but they can be a problem in any sport and at any age. To ensure the lifelong wellness of active youth, it’s essential to better understand the brain and the process of safely navigating brain injuries.

This course features the award-winning AETN documentary Bell Ringer: The Invisible Brain Injury. Through eye-opening interviews with former professional players, medical experts, and renowned researchers, we explore the short-term effects and long-term risks of concussions, how to handle them when they occur, and the best methods of preventing them altogether.

Bullying Full Circle - Beyond the Victim

Bullying situations can be extremely tough for anyone to navigate; the word itself puts many people on edge quickly. Bullying Full Circle - Beyond the Victim is a panel discussion including a diverse group of Arkansas educators hosted by pediatrician Dr. Joseph Wright. Dr. Wright and the panel explain how bullying situations affect a much larger spectrum of individuals than just the victim and the bully. The panel also discusses differentiating actual bullying from one-time incidents and disagreements. Several educators share how their school or district works to prevent bullying and how educators, school staff, and students are trained to handle bullying when it does occur.

This course was recorded May 25, 2016 at AETN studios in Conway, Arkansas.

Suicide Prevention - Looking Deeper

According to the Jason Foundation, four out of five teens display warning signs before they attempt suicide. In most cases, however, the seeds of trauma that brought them to that place were planted much earlier. Shawna Burns, licensed professional counselor and founder of Seed Digging Wellness Center, shares personal stories and case studies that show the connections between those seeds, student behaviors, and the innate needs within all of us. Burns discusses the importance of recognizing suicide warning signs, being aware of risk factors, and having a plan for prevention. She also shares classroom strategies for creating a safe and secure environment for students that speaks to the innate needs that are so often at the root of suicide.

This course meets the requirements of Act 770 of 2011.

Sudden Cardiac Arrest: When Seconds Count

Most student athletes are the picture of good health, but any seemingly healthy student could suffer from sudden cardiac arrest and when they do, seconds count. The good news is that with timely intervention sudden cardiac arrest is highly survivable. In Sudden Cardiac Arrest: When Seconds Count, Dr. Don Steely and athletic trainers Jason Cates, Keith Shireman, and T.J. White share their experience and expertise on sudden cardiac arrest. Learn what you can do to prevent sudden cardiac arrest, what the warning signs look like, how to respond to them, and how you can help a student in cardiac arrest survive.

This course, which meets the requirements of Act 1013 of 2017, includes additional videos as resources in the course materials section. Although these videos are not required to complete the course, they provide the opportunity to develop a deeper understanding of cardiac arrest. The video resources feature reenacted emergency scenarios.

In 2019, Sudden Cardiac Arrest: When Seconds Count received a Bronze Telly Award for Non-Broadcast General Sports.

Preventing the Spread of Communicable Diseases: Sports Medicine for Coaches

Communicable Diseases: A Course for Arkansas Coaches (Updated 2019)

Every day, athletes throughout Arkansas are training for victory. They are practicing hard, strengthening their muscles, eating right, drinking plenty of water, and getting plenty of rest. They know that to be successful, they have to be in excellent physical condition.

But there is another health issue that coaches and athletes need to be aware of - the risk of communicable diseases. Contracting a communicable disease can sideline an athlete before he or she even takes the field. This course will help coaches, staff, and student-athletes take the proper steps to avoid infection. Throughout this course, we will be looking at some of the communicable diseases that affect young athletes. We will look at their causes, how they spread, how they are treated, and how they can be prevented.

This course meets the professional development requirements of Act 1214 of 2011. It was produced by ArkansasIDEAS and the Arkansas Activities Association. 

Informed Choices = Injury Prevention - Improving Playground Safety

This course features a presentation made at Pulaski Technical College on November 8, 2012 for the Informed Choices = Injury Prevention Conference. The Injury Prevention Center of Arkansas Children's Hospital hosted the day-long event. Lacye Vance, Recreation Specialist at UAMS, is the featured expert for this course. Ms. Vance identifies the mechanisms of injury on playgrounds as well as other injuries associated with hazardous equipment. She also offers strategies to reduce playground bullying.

Heat Illness: Hydration Awareness - Athletics/Best Practices: Parental Involvement

This course features Rhonda Fincher, co-founder of the Kendrick Fincher Hydration Foundation. The Kendrick Fincher Hydration Foundation exists to promote proper hydration and prevent heat illness through education and supporting activities. During this presentation coaches are provided with knowledge and encouragement to involve all stakeholders in hydration awareness.

Ms. Fincher's 13-year-old son, Kendrick, died from multi-system organ failure as a result of heat stroke following his first day of football practice in 1995. Since then, she has been active in educating parents, coaches, athletes and school children on the importance of proper hydration. Ms. Fincher has also published a book for grieving parents and others who better want to understand the grieving process entitled, Good Night Kendrick, I Love You - A Mother's Journal Through Grief.

This course is intended for the following audiences: athletic directors, coaches, and physical education teachers.

Heat Illness: Hydration Awareness - School & Parental Involvement

This course features Rhonda Fincher, co-founder of the Kendrick Fincher Hydration Foundation. The Kendrick Fincher Hydration Foundation exists to promote proper hydration and prevent heat illness through education and supporting activities. During this presentation educators and administrators are provided with knowledge and encouragement to involve all stakeholders in hydration awareness.

Ms. Fincher's thirteen-year-old son, Kendrick, died from multi-system organ failure as a result of heat stroke following his first day of football practice in 1995. Since then, she has been active in educating parents, coaches, athletes and school children on the importance of proper hydration. Ms. Fincher has also published a book for grieving parents and others who better want to understand the grieving process entitled, Good Night Kendrick, I Love You - A Mother's Journal Through Grief.

This course is intended for the following audience: classroom teachers, physical education teachers, and administrators.