Preparing First Responders

Dealing with suicide is a difficult, yet predictable part of the job for police officers, psychiatrists, and other emergency health professionals. As “first responders,” they must take action or make decisions on a number of sensitive fronts, while addressing the needs and concerns of distraught or disbelieving family and friends. Yet, many are ill-prepared to handle the emotion and drama at the scene of an attempted or completed suicide.

“Without preparation or training, EMS technicians, medical examiners, emergency room staff, psychologists, counselors, social workers, and physicians might inadvertently be insensitive or make decisions that harm the investigation or produce further distress for family and friends,” says Lloyd Potter, SPRC director.

“We hear horror stories about how responders arrive on the scene of a suicide,” Potter adds. “In some instances, family members are treated as homicide suspects. In other cases, families are left alone after the removal of the body of a loved one without a grief counselor in sight.”

SPRC provides assistance to first responders via the SPRC Web site and a forthcoming four-hour curriculum training.

Some key tips for first responders:

• Officers may be asked to notify the next of kin of someone who has died by suicide. SPRC advises responders to communicate face to face, preferably as a team (an officer and a police chaplain or victim advocate). Responders should speak privately with the primary adults in a household, first confirming their names and their relationship to the deceased. If the police official is notifying an individual who is alone, SPRC suggests that the responder call someone and offer to stay until that person arrives.

• When first responders arrive at a home or workplace where a person has died by suicide, survivors may be overwhelmed with grief, anger, or disbelief. They may, for example, want to see their loved one. Responders may need to gently explain why it is necessary to secure the area until the coroner arrives, or why it may be necessary for the police department to hold personal items (including a suicide note) until an investigation has been completed.

• First responders are sometimes questioned by journalists at the site of a suicide. SPRC advises responders to be extremely sensitive and cautious about contributing to news coverage, which sometimes sparks additional attempts. SPRC advises responders to avoid glamorizing suicide, defaming or criticizing the victim, or offering possible explanations for the suicide. SPRC suggests that, when possible, first responders use press coverage of a suicide to convey information that will help people who are considering hurting themselves to get help and support.