MEDIA BRIEFING
MALE SUICIDE PREVENTION COALITION
LAUNCH 12 MAY 2016
CONTENTS
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Reporting suicide guidelines
Media contacts for all members of the coalition
Key links
Coalition statement of intent
UK suicide rates by gender
Coalition members
Member organisation info: stats, work, impact
◦ Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM)
◦ Lynx
◦ Samaritans
◦ RNLI
◦ Rail industry
◦ British Transport Police
◦ Fire & Rescue
◦ Association of Ambulance of Chief Executives
◦ Highways England
1. REPORTING
SUICIDE GUIDELINES
There is substantial evidence which shows the link between media coverage of suicide and
increases in ‘imitational’ suicides, when suicides are not reported on responsibly. The
following brief guidance is aimed to support media in relation to this campaign. We remind
you of the need for extra care when covering the topic of suicide and signpost Samaritans’
Media Guidelines for the reporting of suicide.
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The risk of media coverage influencing suicidal behaviour significantly increases if
suicide methods are described in detail and if coverage is sensationalised.
When covering suicide statistics, particularly figures relating to specific suicide
methods, it is important to avoid sensationalism. To draw media attention away from
methods, a safe alternative is to focus on the issues impacting on men, making them
more vulnerable to suicide, rather than speaking about choice of suicide methods.
Take care with use of language, avoid the use of terms such as ‘suicide epidemic’.
Promote positive ways of coping with problems and include the fact that suicidal
feelings do pass. Try to portray a death by suicide as a tragic waste of life and
convey the devastation caused for families and friends.
Avoid simplistic explanations, suicide is complex and seldom the result of a single
factor, it is likely to have several inter-related causes
Include sources of support such as CALM’s helpline 0800 58 58 58 and
Samaritans on 116 123. Calls to both numbers are free from any phone.
2. CONTACTS FOR MEDIA ENQUIRIES
Please contact the relevant person below for case studies and spokespeople.
COALITION
MEMBER
NAME
CALM (convening
the coalition)
Rachel Stephenson 07793 031971
[email protected]
CALM (convening
the coalition)
Robin Robinson
07989 436807
[email protected]
Samaritans
Sue Royal
0208 394 8348
[email protected]
British Transport
Police
Rhianne
07771 828512
[email protected]
Network Rail
Lisa Morrison
07734 649250
[email protected]
Chief Fire Officers
Association
Jane Eason
01827 302307
[email protected]
RNLI
James Oxley
07786 668825
[email protected]
Association of
Ambulance Chief
Executives
Carl Rees
07958 547727
[email protected]
Highways England*
Stuart Thompson
07881 500866
[email protected]
o.uk
W Communications
(PR agency for
Lynx)
Grace Henwood
Nikki Guest
07828 040605
07813 156965
[email protected]
TMW ( working with Hema Chauhan
Lynx and CALM)
CONTACT
EMAIL
[email protected]
*Please note Highways England are under purdah for the EU referendum
3. KEY LINKS
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#MaleSuicide
Media release 12 May 2016 00:00 available via
https://www.mynewsdesk.com/uk/calm
Photography, from 12 May 2016 approx 13:00 available here
CALM website: http://thecalmzone.net/
Twitter handles: @theCALMzone @kensingtonroyal @samaritans @RNLI
@networkrail @BTP @CFOAfire @AACE_org @Lynx
Instagram: @CALMZONE @KensingtonRoyal @TowerRNLI @Samaritans /
@NetworkRail @raildeliverygrp
4. COALITION STATEMENT OF INTENT
PREVENTING SUICIDE 'AT THE COALFACE'
A cross-Industry coalition working together to prevent male suicide
This unique coalition is made up of representatives from CALM, National Rail, Royal
National Lifeboat institution (RNLI), British Transport Police & National Police Chiefs'
Council, Chief Fire Officers Association, Highways England, Association of Ambulance Chief
Executives, Samaritans, and Lynx.
Male suicide accounts for 76% of all suicides in the UK. This issue severely impacts many
male-centric industries. With an estimated cost of £1.67m per suicide, this equates to an
estimated cost per day of £20m.
This group came together for a preliminary meeting on 29th April to discuss what we could
do collectively to prevent male suicide in the UK.
The coalition will work together over the next 12 months to:
1. Demonstrate the impact male suicide has upon society and upon the different
industries and communities within the UK.
2. Develop assets for use by men and their peers to enable them to find / provide
support when they need it.
3. Develop a common campaign & messaging to reach men of every age in the UK.
4. Galvanise and mobilise other industries to join this campaign.
The Duke of Cambridge is pleased to welcome this Coalition and will be interested in
charting its progress over the course of the next months and years.
Focus
76% of all suicides are men and boys. They commonly find accessing help both unmanly
and demeaning, and currently don’t identify with many of the public resources out there. We
will focus on providing means of support which are more appropriate and relevant for men.
Messaging
This coalition is dedicated to preventing male suicide in the UK.
We recognise that many types of personal crisis may lead to a man or boy feeling suicidal.
So rather than create a coalition dedicated to ‘mental health’ issues, we propose that it
directly tackles male suicide.
We also recognise that much work is already happening within and between a number of
industries. But the work we want to launch here is upstream, aimed at shifting the culture of
masculinity to enable men to support each other more as well as seek help further afield.
Framework
Most of the members of this Coalface Coalition are also members of the National Suicide
Prevention Alliance, and this work will fit under the workstream with regards to ‘reaching
men’.
5. UK SUICIDE RATES BY GENDER
The graphics below have been colour coded using the same scale, with higher rates
indicated in deeper reds. Age-specific suicide rates are per 100,000 population. Deaths of
non-residents are included in figures, Figures are for deaths registered in each calendar
year.
Source: Office for National Statistics, National Records of Scotland and Northern Ireland
Statistics and Research Agency
UK FEMALE SUICIDE RATES1981-2014
UK MALE SUICIDE RATES1981-2014
7. COALITION MEMBERS
James Scroggs, Chair of Trustees, CALM - James has been involved in CALM since its
launch, when he was working at VP Marketing at MTV. James is a CXO marketer and
strategist with over 20 years’ experience ranging from ITV Digital, MTV, to celebrated UK
Tech start-up SpinVox. James is now Chair of Creative Agency Harriman Steel, founder of
HOOPMUSIC, a management and label for of new UK Artists, founder of clothing business
MCOveralls, mentor for TechStars and The Marketing Academy, as well as a Trustee of The
Mix the ICA.
Jane Powell, CEO, CALM - Jane launched CALM first as a Dept of Health pilot in
Manchester late in 1997, expanded it to Merseyside in 2000 before leaving for the US. On
her return in 2004 she was asked to close the pilot down. Instead she launched CALM as a
charity 2006. She is a seasoned campaigner.
Jacqui Morrissey - Jacqui Morrissey is Head of External Affairs at Samaritans, responsible
for its influencing and campaigning work. During her time at Samaritans, she has led a
number of new initiatives, including key partnerships with the criminal justice and health
sector, and the development of the National Suicide Prevention Alliance.
Felicity Clayton - Felicity Clayton is Highways England Team Leader for Non-Motorised
Users. Felicity is leading the Highways England commitment, part of our 5 year Health and
Safety Action Plan, to develop a suicide prevention working group and programme. The aim
of the group is to prevent suicides on and around our road network, and to reduce the impact
of suicide and attempted suicide to our customers, communities and staff.
Ian Stevens - Ian Stevens heads up the Network Rail suicide-prevention programme,
working closely with train and freight operations, the rail delivery group, the association of
Train Operating Companies, Samaritans and British Transport Police. He has been working
in this area since 2012.
Mark Smith - Over 31 years within police officer. Set up the first joint health and policing
team for BTP and currently work as the Head of Suicide Prevention & Mental Health at BTP.
Mark also sits on the National Police Chiefs Council suicide prevention and response
working group, which has now been in place for three.
Ian Bitcon - I am an Area Manager with West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service who
specialises in safety in the community. I have been in the Fire Service for almost twenty
eight years and am currently the Mental Health lead for the Chief Fire Officers Association.
Tim Mundon - VP, HR, Unilever UK & Ireland. Tim was appointed to the role of Vice
President, Human Resources, UK and Ireland effective 1 February 2012 and is a member of
the leadership team of one of the largest businesses in the Unilever global organisation. He
has directed HR for a number of Unilever Marketing groups across Europe, before being
appointed VP, HR for Unilever’s global Personal Care groups and Marketing worldwide. In
his spare time Tim is a Director of a non-profit organisation which helps young leaders from
around the world to develop their ability to make a positive difference in the world.
Joanna Teasdale - Brand Building Director, Deodorants, Unilever UK & Ireland. Joanna
and her team (including David Titman from Lynx UK) worked on the highly successful
#BiggerIssues campaign and has entered into a 2 year partnership with CALM on suicide
prevention.
Emma Norman - Group Business Director, TMW Unlimited, Lynx Creative agency. Emma
first got involved in CALM in 2008 when TMW Unlimited offered to support CALM pro-bono
on its comedy night. She has since led the successful #BiggerIssues campaign interfacing
with Lynx, TMW and CALM.
Anna Parry
- Anna is the Head of Strategy and Programmes for the Association of
Ambulance Chief Executives, which represents all statutory UK ambulance services. As part
of her role, Anna is currently overseeing a national study to determine if the incidence
among ambulance service staff is above the national average, and to identify what more can
be done to better support the mental health and wellbeing of staff.
Tony Wafer - I work within the prevention arm of the RNLI helping to implement the
organisations target to reduce coastal drowning by 50% by 2024. I facilitated the
development of the UK’s Drowning Prevention Strategy, which includes over 200 suspected
suicides in, on or around the waters and have been exploring strategy options on behalf of
the RNLI to contribute to reducing this number. Being part of this group was a natural fit as
one way in which the RNLI could help save more lives in partnership with like-minded
organisations.
8. MEMBER ORGANISATION INFO
CAMPAIGN AGAINST LIVING MISERABLY
CALM is a registered charity dedicated to preventing male suicide in the UK. Suicide is the
single biggest cause of death for men aged under 45, and men make up 76% of all suicides
in the UK. We provide help and support via our helpline, webchat, website and magazine;
and we seek societal change so that men feel able to get the support they need early on.
Support
CALM operates a free from any phone, confidential, anonymous helpline and webchat every
day from 5pm to midnight offering callers information, support and signposting. We have
trained, paid staff on the helpline which is accredited by the Helplines Partnership, with the
line operated by a Community Interest Company solely on our behalf.
Calls are received from across the UK, N Ireland, Scotland and Wales. 74% of our callers
are men and boys ringing on their own behalf. 67% of callers are aged over 26, with 56%
aged between 26 and 55. Men from every background ring the helpline.
Demand is rising on an almost constant curve, and we receive a call or webchat every 2
minutes when lines are open. The CALM website offering advice, support and content has
40,000 visitors each month.
Total Demand - All Channels
2015
April
6106
May
6153
2016
January
5934
February
6338
March
6312
Impact
The public have from the start been pivotal in supporting our helpline, most particularly those
impacted by a suicide, or those feeling suicidal, so we hear daily about the impact a suicide
has. CALM has played an instrumental part in the Suicide Bereavement Support
Partnership, part funding a worker and hosting the Partnerships meetings. The partnership,
now known as Support After Suicide, will be launching a national audit into the impact of
suicide later in the year.
As well as providing support services, CALM runs hard-hitting, successful awareness
campaigns, including #BiggerIssues and the #ManDictionary. Since CALM was founded in
2006, awareness of male suicide in the UK has helped trebled (YouGov).
Ambitions
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Raise awareness so that 80% of population is aware of male suicide
Demonstrate the impact of suicide
Grow a support base for research into male suicide and prevention
Equip people with knowledge of supporting someone depressed/suicidal
Challenge stereotypes of masculinity, such as men having to be ‘silent & strong’, so that
all men feel able to seek help
• LYNX
In early 2015 Unilever’s male grooming brand, LYNX, approached CALM to enter into a
partnership with the explicit aim of improving awareness of a critical issue affecting men
across the UK – male suicide.
The partnership brings together CALM’s expertise on the issue and LYNX’s knowledge of
and influence on men across the UK. The collaboration is therefore uniquely placed to drive
awareness of the issue, and encourage men to open up about their problems and seek help
when they need it.
ACTION
The result of the partnership so far has been the development of the highly successful
#biggerissues campaign in November 2015 which grabbed the attention of the public and
generated an unprecedented spike of awareness around the issue across the country.
David Titman, Marketing Manager for Lynx: “As a brand that’s been a daily part of the
lives of British men since 1985, Lynx has a powerful voice and is proud to be able to use it in
partnership with CALM to raise awareness of this massive issue.
“We want to make a positive contribution to the lives of British men and as suicide stands as
the single biggest killer of men aged under 45, it’s an issue that is really important to us. The
ultimate objective of our partnership with CALM is to contribute to re-education and
reduction of the UK’s shocking rate of male suicide, and encourage men to open up about
their problems and seek help when they need it.”
LYNX now looks forward to working with the new formed coalition to lend its voice and its
influence to a push for real change
- By providing men with the right resources when they need support themselves/for a
friend
- Ultimately, to contribute to a reduction in the current rates of male suicide in the UK
Broader support
Alongside the development of the public #biggerissues campaign, LYNX also provides
ongoing financial support by contributing towards the resourcing of the charity’s helpline.
12th May
LYNX will be joined on the 12th May by a representative of their lead creative agency - TMW
Unlimited - who were instrumental in introducing the two parties and developing the recent
#biggerissues campaign.
SAMARITANS
Every 2 hours, a man dies by suicide in the UK. Every six seconds, someone contacts
Samaritans for help.
Samaritans vision is that fewer people die by suicide. Our 21,000 volunteers received over
5.4 million contacts for help last year. Samaritans is available all day, every day for anyone
who is struggling to cope, and is free from any phone on 116123.
Suicide is the biggest killer of men under 50 and of young people aged 20-34. Suicide is not
equal - If you are less well-off and male, you are 10 times more likely to die by suicide than
more well-off men. Suicide is not inevitable, it is preventable.
Support
Samaritans provides emotional support to anyone struggling to cope on the phone, by text,
email and face to face. But this is not all we do.
We work with Network Rail and the wider rail industry, with over 10,000 rail personnel
trained and a new Suicide Prevention and Support Learning Tool rolled out across the
industry in 2015. We train prisoners as listeners, responding to nearly 90,000 requests for
support last year; we work with teachers to build emotional resilience in young people, and
work in communities through our 201 branches. We work with at-risk men in a variety of
different settings, including detainees in custody in areas including London, Norfolk and
Manchester, and in A&E departments in Cornwall, Berkshire and Hampshire. Partnerships
are also in place across the country with GP surgeries, mental health crisis teams,
ambulance services and with NHS 111.
Samaritans was also instrumental in creating and continues to host and support the National
Suicide Prevention Alliance, the only national cross-sector alliance in England, with over 60
members working together to prevent suicide and support those affected.
Impact
Every suicide has a wide-reaching impact, affecting family, friends, colleagues, witnesses
and the wider community. Given the scale of male suicide, this means that many thousands
of people are affected by suicide every year.
The average cost of a suicide of someone of working age in England is estimated as
£1.67m. This includes intangible costs (loss of life to the individual and the pain and suffering
of relatives), as well as lost output (both waged and unwaged), police time and funerals.
Ambitions
We want everyone who is struggling to cope to get the support they need, when they need it.
We want to see emotional and mental health treated as an equal to physical health. They
are all inter-linked and should be responded to together and equally. Investment is needed
in research, knowledge, skills and services to achieve this.
We want suicide prevention plans in place and being acted on in every area of the country,
bringing together a wide range of stakeholders to work together to prevent suicide.
RNLI
Statistics
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There were 933 water-related suspected suicides recorded across the UK in 20102014, an average of 186 per year (National Water Safety Forum 2014)
The RNLI responded to approximately 4,150 suspected self-harm incidents in 20102014, accounting for approximately 10% of all RNLI activity (RNLI Operational
Statistics 2014)
Where the gender is known, almost 70% of water-related suicides are male (National
Water Safety Forum 2014)
Data from the National Water Safety Forum WAID database suggests that over 200 people
died by water related suicide in and around the UK in 2014 (National Water Safety Forum
2014). Launches to self-harm incidents form a significant part of the RNLI’s activity.
‘Suspected self-harm’ was the third biggest category for casualties according to lifeboat
launch reports in 2014, with 1,078 incidents across the UK and Ireland (RNLI Operational
Statistics 2014).
Impact of suicide on RNLI staff and beyond
Until recently the RNLI has not fully understood the extent of this issue, or the impact it has
on society, communities, families and individuals. Similarly we were not fully aware of the
impact on RNLI crew and lifeguards who respond to often difficult situations. It is the RNLI’s
responsibility to safeguard its crews and lifeguards against the impact of dealing with so
many of these incidents.
Action
Through the use of targeted research and the creation of key partnerships and collaborative
working, such as this coalition, we are focused on the issue of suicide in and around the UK
waters. We are currently working towards understanding more about the issue and outlining
how we can contribute to reducing suicide in, on and around the water. By doing so, we
hope to play a part in preventing suicide as a whole.
In March 2016 the National Water Safety Forum, whose key membership includes the RNLI
alongside MCA, RLSS UK, RoSPA, ASA and CFOA, launched the first UK Drowning
Prevention Strategy. Outlined in this strategy is a clear commitment to improve our
understanding of water-related self-harm and suicide; cementing the desire of the lifesaving
community as a whole, to do more.
We are aware that we cannot do this work alone and acknowledge we are not experts in
what is a complicated arena. However, by drawing on the knowledge of our partners and
learning from organisations who are already working to prevent suicide we are confident that
we can contribute to preventing this loss of life.
THE RAIL INDUSTRY
Statistics
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Circa 4.5% of all suicides that occur in the UK take place on the rail network
On average there are 256 suicides per annum on the railway
Each suicide costs Network Rail on average £198,000 and the rail industry in total
circa £230,000. In 2015/16 the financial cost to the railway was circa £58m
Each suicide on average generates 2198 minutes of delay across the network. In
2015/16 the total number of delay minutes attributable to suicide was 554,000 (the
equivalent of over 9,000 hours)
Last year rail staff made 239 life-saving interventions out of a recorded total of 1137
On average 10 rail personnel or support services staff are involved in or attend each
suicide. Each has the potential to be traumatised by the event.
Impact of suicide on Network Rail staff and beyond
Suicide on the railway has a significant impact on many:
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Friends and family of the deceased
Rail staff
Support services staff e.g. police officers
Customers
It is the social cost of these events, which is the key driver for the industry’s work in this
area, see case study
https://issuu.com/nrnetwork/docs/network_oct2015/1 pages 14-15.
Action
The rail industry’s suicide prevention programme was launched in 2010 and is supported
through an award winning partnership with Samaritans (now in its seventh year).
The rail industry has a contemporary video training resource which briefs staff on how to
intervene in a suicide and educates them in a range of associated areas such as recognising
at risk individuals and supporting colleagues involved in traumatic events.
The industry has also generated a number of related publications. Two deal with trauma
management and support and a third captures the key elements of the programme that our
frontline staff need to be aware of. The latter includes a small credit card sized aide
memoire to support them when intervening in a suicide.
Samaritans also deliver two bespoke training courses for the industry. The Managing
Suicidal Contacts course helps our staff understand issues around suicide and how to
intervene in them and the second the Trauma Support Training course provides managers
whose staff may be involved in fatalities with an understanding of how they can support
them.
More recently Middlesex University and the University of Westminster have been
commissioned to undertake research into why people choose to take their lives on the G.B
rail network.
BRITISH TRANSPORT POLICE
British Transport Police (BTP) is the national police force for the railway. We help more than
six million passengers get home safe, secure and on time every day.
Statistics
Of the 1,658 people who tried to take their own life on the railway in 2015/16, 305 died and
84 survived with serious injuries. 1,269 people were physically prevented from taking their
own lives by our officers, railway staff or the public. These figures include Network Rail and
London Underground .
Impact of suicide on British Transport Police and beyond
In 2015/16 BTP officers spent some 12,646 deployment hours dealing with fatalities which in
in the main involved suicide. We have some 100 volunteer officers who have been specially
trained to recover bodies that are entangled with trains. This creates significant occupational
health and trauma support needs amongst our staff. In addition BTP deals with some 9,000
mental health crisis and suicidal incidents each year and we manage some 1200 people on
suicide prevention plans.
Action
We have operated a suicide prevention strategy and standard operating procedure since
2010, which has evolved over time and contains a number of core elements, including:
1. Multi-agency training – A partnership with the rail industry and Samaritans, which
provides suicide awareness training to frontline staff and situational preventative
techniques at vulnerable locations.
2. Data gathering and analysis – A central suicide prevention and mental health team,
which records real-time data in relation to suicidal incidents and provides analysis, policy
and strategic partnership support.
3. Joint police/healthcare response – Divisional teams staffed by BTP personnel and NHS
community psychiatric nurses (funded by NHS England and the rail industry). These joint
teams provide real-time health information to police officers involved in incidents on the
ground and also apply joint health and police decision-making for the ongoing
management of high-risk subjects through individual suicide prevention plans.
4. Individual suicide prevention plans – Placing people subject to suicide prevention plans
on the Police National Computer with a marker so that officers in other police forces will
be aware of the suicide risk should they check on someone.
5. Intelligence-led response and patrol – The use of an operational tactic driven by
analysis, which deploys visible resources to vulnerable locations at vulnerable times to
seek out people in distress, remove them from danger and access effective multi-agency
support.
6. A Suicide Prevention Hotline – This telephone number (0300 123 9101) has been
provided to health services (especially mental health trusts), frontline rail staff and
volunteers. Contacting the hotline alerts us to immediate concerns for the safety of a
person who has expressed suicidal intentions on the railway. Our control room operators
answering this line are aware of the necessary actions and procedures needed to
minimise the risks to life and provide an emergency response. The hotline is used on
average once a day.
FIRE & RESCUE
Statistics
It is estimated that the Fire and Rescue Service attend up to 1500 suicide related incidents
each year. The modern Fire and Rescue Service is equipped with a wide range of technical
rescue skills and equipment and that makes them, sometimes, unique in terms of having the
ability to retrieve the body of a suicide victim.
Impact of suicide on Fire & Rescue staff and beyond
Suicide is an important issue for the Fire and Rescue Service for two reasons; firstly,
frontline staff are frequently the ones who attend that incident where someone has taken
their own life, but secondly, where members of staff are left with no alternative but to take
their own life. This is the reason that we are so committed to supporting this particular
campaign.
Each year we see people who use self-immolation, or setting fire to themselves, as a means
of suicide and that can take place in a wide variety of places, both within the home and
outside it. Those who witness this can be seriously traumatised by the event as the
individual will be writhing in agony and may take several days while life slowly ebbs away
despite the level of care that can be provided.
However, firefighters are called upon to deal with lots of different suicide related incidents.
They are able to safely get staff to high places or sites of open water and there are plenty of
examples where crews have been involved while someone who is threatening to take their
life either from a high building, bridge, canal side or reservoir. Sadly, there are probably an
equal number of occasions where crews need to remove a victim who is suspended in a
place that is difficult to reach by other means or whose body is in fast moving open water.
Recent years have, also, seen crews having to deal with incidents of chemical suicide in the
home or other locations.
Given that men are at particular risk of suicide, and the current make-up of the Service is
predominantly male, it should come as no surprise that, unfortunately, each year a number
of firefighters become victims of suicide. Since 2012 there have been at least fifteen
firefighters who have taken their own life. When that happens, there is a devastating effect
on the Fire and Rescue Service.
Action taken re: suicide prevention
This year the Chief Fire Officers’ Association (CFOA) has set Suicide Prevention as one of
the key objectives of its Mental Health Working Group. This will give the Service to share
best practice between local Fire and Rescue Services, but also to look at what other
organisations with a similar viewpoint are doing to support their own staff and the wider
community and it is with that in mind that CFOA are so keen to support this excellent
campaign.
ASSOCIATION OF AMBULANCE CHIEF EXECUTIVES
The Association of Ambulance Chief Executives (AACE) provides ambulance services with a
central organisation that supports, coordinates and implements nationally agreed policy. It
also provides the general public and other stakeholders with a central resource of
information about NHS ambulance services.
The AACE’s membership comprises all English ambulance NHS trusts and the statutory
ambulance services in the rest of the United Kingdom.
Statistics
When considering the impact of suicide upon the ambulance service, data from one of the
largest ambulance services in the UK provides a representative example. This service
receives over a million emergency calls a year with 950,000 incidents each year, 800,000 of
which require emergency transport; this represents approximately 16% of national activity.
Ambulance services use a triage and dispatch system based on a series of questions that
lead the call-taker to a chief complaint founded upon the answers provided by the caller.
As an example, activity within the call category that includes psychiatric/abnormal
behaviour/suicide attempt (NB. not just suicide) for one trust (geographical area) alone
amounted to 33,200 emergency calls and 25,090 responses in 2014/15 and 37,152
emergency calls and 29,397 responses in 2015/16. This equates to approximately 3-4% of
that ambulance service’s annual workload.
Impact of suicide on ambulance staff
The ambulance service is affected significantly by the occurrence of suicide given that the
majority of cases will result in an emergency call that requires an emergency medical
response. This has a major impact upon resource and can have a bearing upon the mental
health and wellbeing of ambulance service staff.
Action being taken re: suicide prevention
The AACE is currently undertaking research to determine whether the incidence of suicide
amongst the ambulance service workforce is higher than the average national suicide rate
and to identify any emergent trends. The outcome of this research will inform the
development and enhancement of supports available to promote the mental health and
wellbeing of the ambulance service workforce.
HIGHWAYS ENGLAND
Statistics
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Between April 2013 and December 2014, over 1,500 incidents recorded as either
suicide, attempted suicide or “threatened” suicide were brought to the attention of a
Highways England Traffic Officer.
Since April 2015, there have been 208 suicides or suspected suicides on the rail
network. Frontline rail staff have performed more than 450 interventions during this
time, preventing people from harming themselves on the network.
Highways England are under purdah for the EU referendum.