I completed my internship with Suicide Prevention Services in Columbus, OH where I answer calls for the National Lifeline, Columbus Suicide Prevention Services, and the Columbus Senior Line. The internship consisted of completing an extensive training over the course of a few months before starting, in order to learn how to properly assess a caller. The following blog post will discuss the method that we use when people call any of our lines which is a technique that anyone can use when encountering a friend or peer who may be suicidal.
The first 5 minutes of the call begin by building rapport with the caller, introducing yourself, trying to get a name from them if possible, listening to the reason they called, and a lot of parroting.
For example:
- Volunteer: You’ve reached suicide prevention, can I help?
- Caller: I hope so; I’m just not feeling like myself.
- Volunteer: You’re not feeling yourself? (Parroting)
- Caller: No
- Volunteer: Well I’m so happy you called, my name is Emily and I’m going to try to help you out today? Would you like to share your first name?
- Caller: Sally
- Volunteer: Sally thank you so much, you are so brave for calling us. Could you tell me a little more about why you aren’t feeling like yourself?
After listening to their presenting problems it is essential to ask the suicide question even if you may not think they are suicidal. Not everyone who calls is suicidal, especially if they are using the Senior Line. Verbally saying “Sally, are you thinking of suicide today because of everything that’s going on?” really puts things into perspective for them when you say it out loud. If the answer is yes, we are trained to follow the acronym PIMP DADS to assess them.
- Plan: We ask the caller if they have any sort of plan. If they say yes, we figure out what the plan is, which they are usually pretty willing to tell. Let’s say their plan is to overdose on sleeping medication.
- Intent: This looks to see if the desire to do this is actually there. During this we may use parroting and say, “you want to overdose on sleeping medication?” They may change their mind with this question.
- Means: Since the caller said they wanted to overdose with sleeping medication it is important to figure out if they actually have the medication, how much of it, and what type it is. This may be useful if we need to contact Poison Control or dispatch 911. It is also important to ask if they have already done something to harm themselves with their means. We also want to ensure that the mechanism they’ve identified for harming themselves is not right next to them. In this case I may ask if they can put the sleeping medications in another room, in a cabinet, or give them to someone to hold onto. This helps so they aren’t staring at them and continuing to have negative thoughts.
- Prior: We assess if the caller has attempted suicide before. It is important to get the time period as attempting last night versus attempting 10 years ago may have a big impact on the evaluation.
- Diagnosis: We ask if they have had a previous mental health diagnosis. This can impact our problem solving as we can figure out if they have taken medications prescribed for them or if they are seeing a counselor soon.
- Alcohol: We ask if they have consumed any alcohol. This can impact the their sense of mind. If they answer yes we figure out exactly what it was, how much, and over what time period.
- Drugs: We ask if they have taken any drugs. If yes, we figure out exactly what it was, how much, and over what time period.
- Support: We figure out what type of support system they may have in their life. This can be anywhere from parents, siblings, close friends, religious leaders, or even pets. This can help identify people that they are living for and would be impacted by their death or could help them through this crisis.
This thorough assessment can be manipulated based on different situations, but from here we would begin to problem solve, identify resources for them, or intervene with police etc. All of this information would then be recorded in a detailed online call report.
I am so glad this internship has given me the opportunity to help others in a critical time of need and I am excited to continue this over the next couple of semesters and share what I learn!
-Emily Hayman