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The American College of Surgeons (·¬ÇÑÉçÇøapp) Committee on Trauma’s Committee on Injury Prevention and Control developed the following statement to educate surgeons and other medical professionals on the significance of suicide and evidence-based prevention activities. The ·¬ÇÑÉçÇøapp Board of Regents approved the statement at its February meeting in Chicago, IL.

The ·¬ÇÑÉçÇøapp recognizes the following:

• In 2017, 47,173 people in the US. died as a result of suicide, and more than half died as a result of firearm-related suicide.¹ In 2017, suicide was the 10th leading cause of death in the US.¹
• From 2001 through 2017, the total suicide rate increased 31 percent from 10.7 to 14.0 per 100,000.²
• In 2017, there were twice as many suicides (47,173) as homicides (19,510) in the US.¹
• Most people who take their own lives have contact with the healthcare system within the prior year.^3-5
• Firearm access is a risk factor for suicide.⁶
• Lethal means counseling can reduce access to firearms for those at risk.⁷

The ·¬ÇÑÉçÇøapp supports efforts to promote, enact, and sustain legislation and policies that encourage:

• Electronic health record-based suicide risk screening for all patients.⁸ Examples include the following:
  • ²
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• Lethal means counseling when a patient is struggling with a mental health problem, substance abuse, or painful life crisis. Resources available include the following:
  • American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma: Gun Safety and Your Health
• Hospital-based mental health support for those individuals at risk.
• Proactive follow-up care to ensure that patients who are not recovering from a behavioral health problem receive effective care.

References

1. Kochanek KD, Murphy SL, Xu J, Arias E. Deaths: Final data for 2017. National Vital Statistics Report. 2019;68(9):1-77. Available at: . Accessed February 25, 2020.
2. Hedegaard H, Curtin SC, Warner M. Suicide mortality in the United States, 1999–2017. National Center for Health Statistics Data Brief, no. 330. Available at: . Accessed February 25, 2020.
3. Ahmedani BK, Simon GE, Stewart C. Health care contacts in the year before suicide death. J Gen Intern Med. 2014;29(6):870-877.
4. Luoma JB, Martin CE, Pearson JL. Contact with mental health and primary care providers before suicide: A review of the evidence. Am J Psychiatry. 2002;159(6):909-916.
5. Gairin I, House A, Owens D. Attendance at the accident and emergency department in the year before suicide: A retrospective study. Br J Psychiatry. 2003;183:28-33.
6. Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Firearms and suicide case control bibliography. Available at: . Accessed February 24, 2020.
7. McManus BL, Kruesi M, Dontes AE, DeFazio CR, Piotrowski JT, Woodward PJ. Child and adolescent suicide attempts: An opportunity for emergency departments to provide injury prevention education. Am J Emerg Med. 1997;15(4):357-360.
8. The Joint Commission. Sentinel Event Alert, Issue 56: Detecting and treating suicide ideation in all settings. Available at: www.jointcommission.org/assets/1/18/SEA_56_Suicide.pdf. Accessed March 3, 2020.