@article{ref1,
title="Calls of despair: an EMS perspective on suicide and overdose in Rhode Island during COVID-19",
journal="Rhode Island medical journal (2013)",
year="2023",
author="Thorndike, James L. and Roberts-Santana, Carolina and Rhodes, Jason and Williams, Kenneth A.",
volume="106",
number="1",
pages="42-47",
abstract="In 2020, Americans suffered marked increases in overdose deaths and self-reported suicidal ideation, widely attributed to COVID-19. However, the recent pandemic's full effect on suicide and drug overdose, two of the &quot;deaths of despair&quot;, remains poorly understood. This study aims to illustrate the impact of COVID-19 on suicide and overdose calls to emergency medical services (EMS) in Rhode Island using syndromic analysis as a novel public health surveillance tool. Utilizing computer algorithms, suicide and overdose EMS calls were identified during the pre-pandemic (March 2019-February 2020) and pandemic (March 2020-February 2021) years. Versus the prior year, pandemic year mean monthly call volume declined significantly for opioid (-16.2%), overdose (-15.5%), and suicide ideation (-6.2%) syndromes. Given elevated national overdose deaths and suicidality, our results suggest that hesitancy to call 911 amid COVID-19 hampered EMS intervention on suicide and overdose patients, potentially compounding their despair and the acuity of their eventual presentation.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="2327-2228",
doi="",
url="http://dx.doi.org/"
}