New Annals of Emergency Medicine Publication on Reducing Suicide Risk in the Emergency Department

The Annals of Emergency Medicine has published a review titled “Reducing Suicide Risk: Challenges and Opportunities in the Emergency Department,” which was coauthored by members of a panel put together by AFSP that included SPRC’s Lisa Capoccia and Julie Goldstein Grumet. In this article, emergency departments (EDs) are identified as prime locations for identifying individuals at high risk of suicide and for making life-saving interventions. The authors argue that, in an ideal scenario, all ED patients at risk of suicide could be identified and connected with effective, feasible interventions, and that this would occur in a supportive system not overburdened by screening or assessment requirements. They present challenges to achieving this ideal—along with potential solutions—at the level of patients, providers, the ED environment, and the larger health care system. In addition, the authors recommend guidelines for suicide screening and care of suicidal patients in the ED, including SPRC’s Caring for Adult Patients with Suicide Risk: A Consensus Guide for Emergency Departments.