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inside correctional health
Suicide Prevention
and Planning:
More Than Just Talk
“The goal of suicide prevention is to I speak from my own experience. First,
reduce risk before it becomes a crisis and, I’ve worked with stellar professionals on all
when necessary, defuse a crisis before it shifts—new, learning, and experienced—and
becomes fatal.” These words were writ- I would go to bat with them any time. Second,
ten in the Suicide Prevention Resource Guide not having a standard increases the facility’s
distributed to facilities as a collaborative vulnerability for liability and litigation. The
effort between the National Commission on sheriff’s response: “I’ll pay it—every time. It’s
Correctional Health Care (NCCHC) and the easier, faster, and cheaper.”
American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. If you’ve worked in corrections for any
A few years ago, I had a great conversation time at all, most likely you’ve been exposed to
with a sheriff at a national conference about an in-custody death. If you haven’t, consider
NCCHC’s Standards for Health Services— yourself lucky. And consider using NCCHC’s
particularly B-05 Suicide Prevention and “Jail Commander Conversations: Suicide
Intervention. His point was simple and a little Prevention” document to build your facility’s
disturbing. suicide prevention program.
He did not want to recognize and hold his
staff to a standard because he couldn’t control JIM MARTIN, MPSA, CCHP
the actions of “some new, young correctional Vice President, Program Development
officer on third shift.” He couldn’t guarantee jamesmartin@ncchc.org
that the new officer would turn the key at the
right time or make the correct notation in the
record where it should be. AMY PANAGOPOULOS, MBA, BSN, RN
I had a challenge before me: The sheriff had Vice President of Accreditation
amyp@ncchc.org
dug in and was 100% against any national National Commission on Correctional Health Care
standards. And I stood before him, wonder-
ing “How could you possibly not see the
benefit?”
56 | MAY | JUNE 2021 AMERICANJails
