Citation

Glatt KM. Suicide Life Threat. Behav. 1987; 17(4): 299-309.

Affiliation

Dutchess County Department of Mental Hygiene, Poughkeepsie, New York.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1987, American Association of Suicidology, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

3424399

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.