Emergency Departments
Individuals in a suicidal crisis often seek help at a hospital emergency department (ED). EDs also frequently provide care for people with other risk factors for suicide, such as serious mental illness, substance use disorders, and chronic pain. The ED visit is an important window of opportunity, however brief, to intervene and save lives.
Why Address Suicide Prevention
- The risk of a suicide attempt or death is highest within 30 days of discharge from an ED or inpatient psychiatric unit.1
- Up to 70 percent of patients who leave the ED after a suicide attempt never attend their first outpatient appointment.1
- Approximately 37% of individuals without a mental health or chemical dependency diagnosis who died by suicide make an ED visit within a year of their death.2
How Emergency Departments Can Take Action
The best way to prevent suicide is to use a comprehensive approach that includes these key components:
- Conduct universal or selective screening for suicide risk
- Provide at-risk patients with a full assessment by a mental health professional trained in effective suicide care
- Provide brief interventions while patients are still in the ED (e.g., safety planning, lethal means counseling)
- Ensure careful discharge planning and safe transitions of care to outpatient services
References
- Knesper, D. J. (2010). Continuity of care for suicide prevention and research: Suicide attempts and suicide deaths subsequent to discharge from the emergency department or psychiatry inpatient unit. Newton, MA: Suicide Prevention Resource Center.
- Ahmedani, B. K., Simon, G. E., Stewart, C., Beck, A., Waitzfelder, B. E., Rossom, R., . . . Solberg, L. I. (2014). Health care contacts in the year before suicide death. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 29(6), 870–877.
Learn More
- Visit our pages on two related settings: Behavioral Health Care and Crisis Centers and Services
- See the Recommended Resources below selected by SPRC personnel.
- See All Resources Related to Emergency Departments for a full list of materials, programs, trainings, and other information available from SPRC. Use the filters on the left to narrow your results.
- For more on other settings and groups, see our Settings and Populations pages.
Recommended Resources
How emergency departments can help prevent suicide among at-risk patients: Five brief interventions
This nine-minute video describes five brief interventions which can be used to prevent suicide prior to discharge from emergency departments.
Preventing suicide in emergency department patients
This online course for ED healthcare professionals covers screening, assessment, brief interventions, patient-centered care, patient safety, and incorporating suicide prevention into discharge planning.
Patient Safety Screener webpage
This web page provides a portal to the Patient Safety Screener (PSS-3) video and useful resources to help administer the PSS-3.
CALM: Counseling on Access to Lethal Means
This free online course is designed to help mental health professionals counsel people at risk for suicide—and their families—on reducing access to lethal means.
R3 Report Issue 18: National Patient Safety Goal (NPSG) 15.01.01 for suicide prevention
The Joint Commission realized that suicide rates have not improved over the past decade and has issued updated requirem...
Zero Suicide website
This website provides information, resources, and tools for implementing Zero Suicide.
All Resources Related to Emergency Departments
Displaying 108 results. Refine results using the filters on the left.
NEWS/HIGHLIGHT
Alcohol Use Disorder and Suicidal Thoughts: Racial and Ethnic Differences
2023
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Fact Sheet/Issue Brief
Screening and Safety Planning With Adults at Risk of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) and Suicide: An Issue Brief for Clinicians
2023
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NEWS/HIGHLIGHT
Almost Half of Children Who Go to ER With Mental Health Crisis Don’t Get the Follow-Up Care They Need, Study Finds
2023
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NEWS/HIGHLIGHT
Black Adults More Likely to Seek Mental Health Treatment at EDs, Pre-pandemic Data Show
2023
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Resource List/Bibliography
Suicide Prevention Resource Center's Best Practices Registry
2023
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Webinar/Training
2007 Garrett Lee Smith State and Tribal Suicide Prevention Grantee Meeting
2023
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Webinar/Training
Advancing Suicide Prevention Practice in the Emergency Department Setting
2022
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Webinar/Training
Suicidal Patients in the Emergency Department: Improving Care through Partnerships with Crisis Centers
2022
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Webinar/Training
Zero Suicide Webinar: Screening and Assessment for Suicide in Health Care Settings
2022
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Webinar/Training
Zero Suicide Webinar: The Role of Peer Support Services in Caring for Those at Risk of Suicide
2022
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Webinar/Training
Zero Suicide Webinar: Data-Driven Quality Improvement in Zero Suicide
2022
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Webinar/Training
Pre-application Webinar: Cooperative Agreements to Implement Zero Suicide in Health Systems
2022
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NEWS/HIGHLIGHT
Sharp Uptick Seen in Suspected Suicide Attempts among Teenage Girls: CDC
2021
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NEWS/HIGHLIGHT
Randomized Controlled Study of the Attempted Suicide Short Intervention Program
2019
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NEWS/HIGHLIGHT
FLORIDA: UCF, AdventHealth Partner to Identify Suicide Risk of ER Patients
2019
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NEWS/HIGHLIGHT
Number of Children Going to ER with Suicidal Thoughts, Attempts Doubles, Study Finds
2019
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Brochure/Booklet
After an attempt guides for families, providers and those being treated in EDs
2018
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Fact Sheet/Issue Brief
Pain in the nation: Healthcare systems brief: How healthcare systems can help address the drug, alcohol and suicide crises
2018
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NEWS/HIGHLIGHT
Recommended Standard Care for People with Suicide Risk: A Critical Step Forward
2018
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Guidelines/Recommendations
Recommended standard care for people with suicide risk: Making health care suicide safe
2018
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NEWS/HIGHLIGHT
MISSOURI: One Patient at a Time, This Wash U Program Works to Reduce Gun Suicides
2018
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Brochure/Booklet
After an attempt: A guide for taking care of yourself after your treatment in the emergency department
2018
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Brochure/Booklet
After an attempt: A guide for taking care of your family member after treatment in the emergency department
2018
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Brochure/Booklet
After an attempt: A guide for medical providers in the emergency department taking care of suicide attempt survivors
2018
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Report
The way forward: Federal action for a system that works for all people living with SMI and SED and their families and caregivers – Full report
2017
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Fact Sheet/Issue Brief
Characteristics of homeless individuals using emergency department services in 2014
2017
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Guidelines/Recommendations
Guidelines for integrated suicide-related crisis and follow-up care in emergency departments and other acute settings
2017
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Fact Sheet/Issue Brief
Emergency department visits related to suicidal ideation, 2006-2013
2017
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NEWS/HIGHLIGHT
MONTANA: Montana Team Recommends Hospitals Add Depression Screening to Patient Questionnaires
2017
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NEWS/HIGHLIGHT
Attempted Suicide Rates, Risk Groups Essentially Unchanged, New Study Shows
2017
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NEWS/HIGHLIGHT
New Annals of Emergency Medicine Publication on Reducing Suicide Risk in the Emergency Department
2016
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NEWS/HIGHLIGHT
Suicide Risk Can Be Intercepted in the Emergency Department, Study Finds
2016
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NEWS/HIGHLIGHT
Only About Half of Suicidal Patients Asked if They Have Access to Firearms
2016
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NEWS/HIGHLIGHT
Joint Commission shines spotlight on suicide in hospitals and other settings, with 8 steps to detect growing concern
2016
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Guidelines/Recommendations
Psychosocial interventions for mental and substance use disorders: A framework for establishing evidence-based standards
2015
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Fact Sheet/Issue Brief
Combinations of types of mental health services received in the past year among young adults
2015
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Manual
Caring for adult patients with suicide risk: A consensus guide for emergency departments
2015
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Fact Sheet/Issue Brief
Visits to emergency departments for drug-related suicide attempts increased
2014
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Fact Sheet/Issue Brief
Emergency department visits for drug-related suicide attempts among middle-aged adults aged 45-64
2014
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Manual
TAP 33: Systems-level implementation of screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment (SBIRT)
2013
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Guidelines/Recommendations
VA/DoD clinical practice guideline for assessment and management of patients at risk for suicide
2013
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Fact Sheet/Issue Brief
Emergency department visits for drug-related suicide attempts among males: 2004 to 2009
2012
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Report
First national conference for survivors of suicide attempts, health care professionals, and clergy and laity: Summary of workgroup reports
2008
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