Suicide Prevention Groups See Holiday Increase

The reasons for the increase aren’t clear, but suicide prevention hotlines say they’re experiencing an increase in calls, beyond the volume usually by the stress of the holidays and depression from winter weather. Most experts say the increase is likely caused by the economy, which continues to affect people even as with technical signs the economy is improving. An Oregon hotline said they received five critical calls in just two hours, many more than the usual 10 per month. A Georgia health center calls the suicide problem an epidemic. Every public safety comm center should provide basic training for suicidal callers, and should have an on-going relationship with the local crisis and suicide prevention hotlines. Several companies offer dispatcher-level training—read about how dispatchers in the Oxford (Mass.) region were recently trained.