For youth between the ages of 10 and 24, suicide is the third leading cause of death. Nearly 14 percent of high school students report seriously considering suicide – which equals three students in an average classroom size of 20. Research also shows the estimated cost of youth suicide to be more than $6 billion a year in medical costs and work loss, in this country alone.

An important step in preventing suicide is ensuring people have access to the best available knowledge and tools to prevent suicide. Equally important is to make certain this information is also actionable, so it can be put into practice.

Suicide Prevention Tools

·       Gatekeeper Training Implementation Support System (GTISS)
Created by the Tennessee Lives Count initiative, this is an online resource that provides tools to support successful selection, implementation, and evaluation of gatekeeper training programs.

·       Family Brochure
The Native American Rehabilitation Association’s Life is Sacred Native Youth Suicide Prevention Program is built upon the unique role culture plays in prevention of youth suicide.

·       MYSPP Early Identification and Referral Data Toolkit
The Maine Youth Suicide Prevention Program (MYSPP) developed an online resource that provides guidance and actionable tools for collecting early identification and referral data on students at risk for suicidal behavior in schools.

Suicide Prevention Research

Through this collaboration, DVP created a series of actionable knowledge briefs to help integrate research into suicide prevention efforts in local communities:

·       Putting Knowledge into Action to Prevent Violence
Details on the actionable knowledge process and how communities can put science into action to prevent suicide and other forms of violence.

·       Suicide Prevention: A Public Health Issue
Why suicide is a public health issue and the unique role that public health plays in preventing suicide in communities.

·       Preventing Suicide Through Connectedness
How connectedness between individuals, families, and organizations can help prevent suicide and increase well-being.

Please use the link below to go to the Army OneSource link highlighting this important issue.

Army OneSource Link

Our primary goal was to better understand the issues of stigma and barriers to care as they relate to the trajectory from illness, distress and health risk behaviors after war, disaster or terrorism to care and needed help. At that point the group could translate their understanding into action through recommendations. The work of the Forum was a series of presentations followed by thinking together. Our final discussions were to formulate a set of recommendations to capture the ideas generated. The recommendations were organized into the areas of research, education and training, leadership and intervention. We hope this volume communicates the important ideas and recommended actions from this distinguished group.

For more information:  www.militarysurvivorstudy.org

Prior to her military career, COL (Ret) Martinez’s civilian nursing career spanned the acute, chronic disease and community health settings and included jobs in: direct care nursing in Intensive Care Units, Continuing Care Coordinator at a large City Acute and Chronic Disease Hospitals, Section Administrator/Clinician for Health Department Home Health Agency, Administrator/Clinician for Day Care Center for Adults and a College Nursing Instructor. She was also inducted into Sigma Theta Tau, Honor Society of Nursing.

Active Duty assignments included: Chief of Ambulatory Nursing, 3 Chief Nurse/Deputy Commander for Nursing assignments and Inspector General for the North Atlantic Regional Medical Command. Civilian certifications included: Diplomat in American College of Health Care Executives and American Nursing Association certifications in Advanced Nursing Administration and Clinical Specialist in Adult Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing. Military awards and badges included Expert Field Medical Badge, Meritorious Service Medal with 3rd Oak Leaf Cluster, Humanitarian Service Medal, Order of Military Medical Merit and Legion of Merit. Upon retiring from the U.S. Army in 2002 after 20 years of military service, COL (Ret) Martinez worked from 2002-2006 at WRAMC, Department of Psychiatry as a DOD Civilian Nurse and was credentialed as a Clinical Nurse Specialist, Psychiatry. The highlight of her DOD civilian nursing career included her work with Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF)/Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) Battle Injured Service Members

Thien is currently involved in the Biomarker project for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. He assists in the collection of survey data and biological samples acquired from military service members.  He is also a co-author of Analysis of Kinase Gene Expression in the Frontal Cortex of Suicide Victims: Implication of Fear and Stress, a recent publication in the Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience.