Reducing Suicide Risk: Challenges and Opportunities in the Emergency Department

Abstract

Emergency departments (ED) are prime locations for identifying individuals at high risk of suicide and for making life-saving interventions. In an ideal scenario, all ED patients at risk of suicide could be identified and connected with effective, feasible interventions, and this would occur in a supportive system not overburdened by screening or assessment requirements. In this review, we focus on challenges to achieving this ideal--along with potential solutions--at the level of patients, providers, the ED environment, and the larger health care system.