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Work together to stop suicide

Kearney Hub - 1/19/2017

Our thoughts and prayers go to individuals affected by suicide in our community. The first step in healing our community is to support those who are grieving. Hope is possible and we encourage open conversations of healing throughout our community.

Watch for warning signs in others and learn about community resources. When a community takes these first steps together, we have the potential to prevent suicide. One important step is recognizing the difference between postvention and prevention.

Postvention efforts are vital steps to prevention of suicide. Postvention refers to activities that reduce risk and promote healing after a suicide death and include 1) messages of hope 2) conversations about healing and support 3) knowledge of the warning signs 4) knowledge of resources if someone exhibits warning signs, like the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255.

For those ready to take action, we encourage you to reinforce postvention actions. They are proven effective in communities across the globe to reduce suicide. An important postvention service is the Local Outreach to Suicide Survivors (LOSS) Team, which consists of trained survivors and mental health professionals acting as volunteers to bring immediate support to survivors of suicide.

The Central Nebraska LOSS Team is activated by first response officials when a suicide occurs to provide resources, support and hope to suicide survivors. Prevention is long term. Prevention is not one speaker on mental health or one classroom discussion; it is a collection of community resources and programs all moving together aimed at a root cause to reduce suicide over time.

The Buffalo County Suicide Prevention Coalition is currently assessing root causes of suicide in our community and identifying key partners and resources to mobilize into action. Be a part of the long-term planning process by signing up to volunteer at Buffalo County Community Partners: www.bcchp.org/volunteers. We all want quick change. It is important to know our best response following a suicide is postvention to reduce the risk of further immediate suicides.

Promote community-based postvention, while long-term prevention strategies are established within the community.

Buffalo County Suicide Prevention Coalition Leaders