Surveillance success stories – Fort Peck Indian Reservation

Following a coordinated emergency response to a suicide cluster in 2010, tribal leaders began collecting data from multiple sources to describe detailed circumstances of suicide ideation, attempts and deaths. This allowed them to identify the role of substance abuse in suicide attempts and initiate family education for family members of previously suicidal individuals when they were released from care, emphasizing the importance of close supervision at home and limiting access to drugs and alcohol.

This story is part of SPRC’s Surveillance Success Story Series, which describes how states, tribes, and health systems access and analyze data on suicide deaths and attempts, and use data to inform evaluation and program planning.