Citation

Ludwig A, Lucero-Obusan C, Schirmer P, Holodniy M. Online J. Public Health Inform. 2013; 5(1): 4454.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2013, University of Illinois at Chicago)

DOI

10.5210/ojphi.v5i1.4454

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Veterans accessing Veterans Affairs (VA) health care have more characteristics associated with suicide risk compared with the general U.S. population. Telephone triage is a national telephone-based system used to assess Veterans with acute medical or mental health complaints. We used a biosurveillance application to characterize Veterans who call telephone triage because of suicidal ideation or depression. >2,000 Veterans called during January-June 2012. Suicide prevention training should be prioritized for operators working during off-hours and weekends. Standard notification of clinical staff regarding calls to prevent loss to follow-up and investigation into increased call burden in identified geographic areas is recommended.

Language: en