Helpline: suicide prevention at a suicide site

Suicide Life Threat Behav. 1987 Winter;17(4):299-309. doi: 10.1111/j.1943-278x.1987.tb00070.x.

Abstract

In an effort to reduce the number of suicides from the Mid-Hutson Bridge in Poughkeepsie, New York, the Dutchess County Department of Mental Hygiene and the New York State Bridge Authority jointly established a suicide prevention phone on the bridge, which is directly connected to a 24-hour psychiatric emergency service. This program is the first known one in which a dedicated suicide prevention helpline has been installed at a site of known suicides and linked with a mental health service. After 2 years of operation, the phone has been used 30 times; the data suggest that most would-be jumpers are ambivalent enough about dying that they will reach out for help/contact if the opportunity exists, and, as a consequence, can be saved.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Crisis Intervention*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • New York
  • Suicide / psychology
  • Suicide Prevention*
  • Telephone*