BCC Nursing Programs Integrate Mental Health First Aid Certification

08:13AM / Thursday, April 17, 2025Print Story | Email Story

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Berkshire Community College (BCC) has added Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) certification as a mandatory component for all students in their final semester of the associate degree in nursing and practical nursing programs.

The requirement, based on the curriculum provided by the National Council for Mental Wellbeing, aims to equip graduating nursing students with the skills to identify and respond to individuals experiencing mental health and substance use challenges.

Data from the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention indicates an average of 130 daily deaths by suicide in the U.S. The National Institute of Mental Health reports that nearly one in five adults in the United States live with a mental illness. Additionally, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 841,000 drug overdose deaths between 1999 and 2019.

The MHFA course provides training in recognizing the signs and symptoms of mental health and substance use issues, offering initial support, and connecting individuals with appropriate professional resources. The curriculum covers risk factors and warning signs for mental health and addiction, strategies for crisis and non-crisis intervention, and available resources for help. Specific topics include depression and mood disorders, anxiety disorders, trauma, psychosis, and substance use disorders.

Lori Moon, Dean of Nursing at BCC, stated the college's belief in the essential nature of this certification for healthcare professionals. She also expressed hope for broader adoption of MHFA training across BCC faculty, staff, and programs.

"We believe this certification is essential for all healthcare professionals, and our students stand out by graduating with this credential. We hope that more BCC faculty, staff and programs will adopt this initiative and make completing this training a priority as we face increasing mental health challenges in our society," said BCC Dean of Nursing Lori Moon, who noted that two BCC full-time nursing faculty members, Katie Polchlopek and Kim VanDeusen, have completed MHFA instructor training through a BCC workforce initiative and are now certified as First Aiders in this curriculum.

Instructor certification requires a three-day training program that includes pre-work, a written exam, and a teaching presentation. Certified instructors are required to teach the MHFA course at least three times per year to maintain their certification.

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EPA, GE Conducting Vernal Pool Study on Housatonic River

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
11:44AM / Tuesday, August 11, 2026

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A pilot study will determine the best way to remediate PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, from vernal pools in the Housatonic River.

Last month, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and General Electric held an open house for the Vernal Pool Pilot Study on Reach 5A, a five-mile stretch between the river's confluence and Lenox border. Despite the rain, several people attended the event at the Berkshire Athenaeum.

EPA project manager Josh Fontaine explained that it is an evaluation of which remediation method to use for the remaining vernal pools in Reach 5A.

"We're going to be testing two different methods. One is an excavation method, which we already know has been very successful with another vernal pool cleaned up much earlier in the project," he said.

"And then the other is the application of two different carbon amendments. It would be the application of powdered activated carbon and the application of granulated activated carbon."

Ten vernal pools will be cleaned using these methods: five with excavation and five with active carbon; seven additional vernal pools will be monitored as controls. Construction will be complete around October, but the pools will be left to their natural processes and monitored with surveys and sampling for three years.

Fontaine said there is no frontrunner for methodology.

"We know the excavation method is effective, but we would like to see if the less invasive method of using the amendment will be as effective for potential use," he said.

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