Safety and Crisis Planning

Suicide and drug overdose deaths in the United States, regardless of age or race, have increased since 2001 and the rate of drug overdose death surpassed that of suicide in 2015 (CDC WISQARS, 2018).

In this episode, Rocky Mountain MIRECC for VA Suicide Prevention speaks with Dr. Bridget Matarazzo about the VA Suicide Risk Management Consultation Program.

The Rocky Mountain MIRECC for Suicide Prevention, part of the Department of Veterans Affairs, is offering a free consultation program for any clinician and provider who works with any Veteran at risk for suicide.

A fill-in-the-blank template for developing a safety plan with a patient who is at increased risk for a suicide attempt.

This quick guide for clinicians may be used to develop a safety plan—a prioritized written list of coping strategies and sources of support to be used by patients who have been deemed to be at high risk for suicide.

This manual describes a brief clinical intervention, safety planning, that can serve as a valuable adjunct to risk assessment and may be used with individuals who have made a suicide attempt, have suicide ideation, have psychiatric disorders that increase suicide risk, or who are otherwise determ

Safety Plan is a free mobile safety planning app developed by the New York State Office of Mental Health, along with the New York State Psychiatric Institute, the Research Foundation for Mental Hygiene and the New York State Suicide Prevention Initiative.

This free, online course from the New York State Office of Mental Health and Columbia University describes the Safety Planning Intervention and how it can help individuals, explains when to work with individuals to create a safety plan, and describes the steps in creating a safety plan.