Accidental call to suicide prevention hotline gave family back hope

Veteran, family rebuilding lives after five-year struggle
VOA program targets former service members in need
7:48 PM, Dec. 24, 2011

Written by
Melody Brumble

"I was in the first wave to enter Kuwait in Desert Storm," he said. "I only served in the military four years, though. I didn't think I'd done enough to qualify for benefits."

Brett and Ida Smith are home after a five-year journey that tested their faith and forced them to face the specter of homelessness.

This morning the Smiths and their three children will wake in a place of their own with groceries in the pantry after spending nearly five years in a 40-foot-by-16-foot mobile home with Ida Smith's mom north of Shreveport. A pile of surprises from Santa will be waiting under the tree.

Logan, 17, and Alison, 13, took turns sleeping on the floor. Shannon, 10, slept in a king-sized bed with her parents. The mobile home didn't have heat so the family depended on a gas stove and electric space heaters for warmth. The home also lacked adequate hot water.

"I tried to call the veterans help hotline, then when someone answered I realized I had dialed the wrong number and it was the suicide hotline," he recalled.

The wrong number turned out to be the right answer. Someone referred the Smiths to the Volunteers of America, which enrolled the family in a new support services program to help veterans' families avoid homelessness.

"When I initially met with them, they mentioned that the only thing their children wanted for Christmas was a house of their own," said Gary Jaynes, who oversees the program for VOA.

VOA uses a $400,000 federal grant to prevent veterans' families from becoming homeless or to quickly find them new housing.
read more here

Why do so many veterans want to kill themselves?

Why do veterans want to kill themselves?
by
Chaplain Kathie

They didn't want the enemy to kill them during combat. So why do they want to do it to themselves?

Over a million veterans and family members called the Suicide Prevention Hotline. Sounds good. Doesn't it? After all, saving lives is a good thing. Veterans reaching out for help before they end their own lives is a good thing. Isn't it?

Only if you just look at it one way but if you step back, look at the whole picture, you'll see how bad these numbers truly are.

These men and women survived combat. As much as they wanted to save the lives of their buddies, they wanted to live. Bullets coming at them and the possibility of an IED waiting to blow them up, they managed to live with all that going on.

Time for some questions to be answered.

The government has spent millions on "training" them to prevent PTSD and "toughen" their minds yet over a million crisis calls came into the hotline. Why? Why do over a million reach the point where they are thinking of killing themselves, especially after they left combat and are "safely" back home?

With all the "training" they were given, why does the number of attempted suicides of active servicemen and women continue to grow?

Over a million calls and 20,000 saved sounds good but what happened to the others?

Crisis hot line saves suicidal war veterans
By Christina Ginn, CNN
Sun December 18, 2011

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
The Veterans Crisis Line was launched in 2007
Dispatchers have saved 20,000 lives, according to the director
Veterans and their loved ones can call 1-800-273-8255 or text 838255
They can also chat with a responder at Veterans Crisis Line

Canandaigua, New York (CNN) -- Suicide continues to plague the American military, with an estimated 18 war veterans in the United States ending their lives each day. One of the last resorts for veterans struggling with the return to civilian life is a suicide-prevention hot line based in upstate New York.

The humble offices of the Veterans Crisis Line in Canandaigua, New York, are like any other office space: desks, computers, telephones. But as you walk past each cubicle, you begin to hear extraordinarily disturbing conversations.

"I have a .45 pointed at my head," one caller says.

"Can you put that knife away for a bit while we talk? Can you do that for me? Can you hold off just for a little bit?" a hot line worker asks.

"What sort of weapons do you have?" another calmly responds.

The men and women who answer the Veterans Crisis Line phones are on the front lines of an all-out war on suicide. Each speaks to the caller with a very clear purpose: keep the person on the phone long enough to get help.

"The first thing I say to a caller when they do have the object that they plan on killing themselves with them on their person, whether it's a loaded gun on their lap or the rope already strung, I always say to them, 'Can you agree to not shoot yourself, take your pills, get up on the ladder while we're on the phone?' " explained Maureen McHenry, a crisis line responder.

In 2011, the U.S. Army recorded 246 cases of confirmed or potential suicides among active-duty and reserve soldiers, according to statistics released in November. That number appears to be below the 2010 level of 305 for the full 12 months but above the second-highest year: 2009, which had 242 suicides.
The U.S. Marines have recorded 28 confirmed suicides and 163 attempted suicides this year through October. Current numbers were not available for the U.S. Navy, Air Force and National Guard. Those three branches reported suicides among service members in 2010 to be 39, 100 and 112, respectively.

read more here

Congressional Hearing On Meds and Suicide of Veterans

Saturday, June 25, 2011

February 12, 2011 Dr. Peter Breggin testifies before congress on the connection between medications and suicides among veterans.

We know medications are not supposed to be the end of treatment but in too many cases, that is all they get. All too often the medications are dangerous and come with warnings. Therapy is vital according to most experts but far too many have been redeployed without therapy or the monitoring they are supposed to receive. This makes them more vulnerable than they would have been if they were allowed to heal before being sent back.

Ignoring increased risk of PTSD in redeployed at our peril 

August 2007 readdressing a report from the Washington Post going back to 2006.

Redeployments increase the risk of developing PTSD by 50% according to the Army study done years ago but over and over again they are redeployed. Most of the time they end up back in combat at the same time they should have been able to recover from the previous deployment and allowed time to discover if the damage to them needed addressing.

"Dwell Time" for Soldiers May Lead to Increase in PTSD Diagnosis

Thursday, December 8, 2011

"When you're over there, it's pretty much life and death every day, and you always have to be looking out for yourself - so dwell time is definitely important," added Corporal Jared Tittle, USMC.

This report came out proving this with extended dwell time resulting in an increase of PTSD issues. Given enough time for them to see what changes are happening within them allowed them the opportunity to get the help they needed. We've seen how a "busy" life covers the ravages of war in Vietnam veterans. Mild PTSD trapped behind careers and keeping busy gained power so that when they retired, their PTSD exploded.

With over 13,000 posts on this blog, I can tell you that the above reports are only a sample of what has been known and ignored.

The number "18" veterans a day reported of veterans committing suicide is only part of it. Reporters have failed to point out that if a veteran is not in the VA system, they are not counted. Consider the hundreds of thousands of backlog of claims and you get a better idea. The numbers reported for active military again, just part of the true number when you consider after they are discharged, they are no longer counted by the military.

This is why we should all be heartsick over reading about so many calling the suicide prevention hotline. We should be grateful the men and women staffing it are there but never stop asking why they have to be there in the first place.

VA suicide programs need more exposure

Experts: VA suicide programs need more exposure
By Andrew Tilghman - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Dec 2, 2011 14:23:16 EST
The Veterans Affairs Department has a myriad of programs to help prevent veterans’ suicide, but many — perhaps most — troubled veterans never get access to them, experts told lawmakers on Friday.

About 70 percent of all U.S. veterans have no contact with VA, making any program’s effectiveness limited.

“Why aren’t we buying targeted Facebook ads?” said Tom Tarantino, a former Army captain who is now with the advocacy group Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, testified at a hearing for the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee’s health panel.

Facebook would allow VA and others to “laser target” veterans and their families, he said. “We just don’t do that — and I don’t know why.”

Rep. David Roe, R-Tenn., pointed to several innovative ways to reach people, including a start-up effort by the Google online search engine to help better organize information about veterans’ services and also efforts by some cities to include veterans services on metropolitan 311 emergency phone lines.
read more here

Who said we can't prevent suicides in the military?

I am dumbfounded! I don't know where someone as smart and well educated as this man is got the idea we can't stop suicides, but he has it and has just put nails in more coffins.

Michael Blumenfield, M.D.Sidney E. Frank Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry, New York Medical College
Posted: August 2, 2010 11:36 AM
We Can't Prevent Suicides and PTSD in the Military
The latest information released by the U.S. Army reveals that last year American soldiers attempted suicide at the rate of about 5/day. There were 160 successful suicides last year and during June the rate was 1/day. Military research has reported that one in ten Iraq veterans may develop a severe case of PTSD.

As statistics such as these continue to emerge there is a continued outcry that something should be done about it. A report issued by the U.S. Army mistakenly minimized the fact that these psychological casualties are a result combat and the realities of war. The Army review concluded "simply stated, we are often more dangerous to ourselves than the enemy." It went on to say that commanders have failed to identify and monitor soldiers prone to risk taking behavior and as a result suicides among soldier have soared. This is a misguided view that somehow if we did the right thing we could prevent these events.

We haven't been able to prevent the increasing number of Americans being killed by IEDs. War is hell and soldiers get killed. We train them the best way that we know how, but inevitably soldiers die when there is a war.
click link for more

Blumenfield is half right by brining up the fact we have not stopped them and the numbers have gone up but he's missing a really important point and that is, what they have been doing has not stopped them but it is not impossible to do.

Look at the figures from the Suicide Prevention Hotline.

FOR EMBARGOED RELEASE Media Contact: SAMHSA Press Office 12:01 am Thursday, May 27, 2010 240-276-2130
The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline Network Answers Two Millionth Call
National Network of Local Crisis Centers Continues to Help More Callers in Emotional Distress or Suicidal Crisis through its Toll-free, 24-hour Hotline
The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (Lifeline) 1-800-273-TALK (8255), a network of crisis call centers located throughout the nation, has answered its two millionth call since its launch on January 1, 2005. Sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), the Lifeline currently responds to an average of more than 1,800 calls a day or 54,000 calls per month.
read more of this here
SAMHSA Press Office

This should be one of the biggest news stories when it comes to suicide prevention and any reports on the military but it isn't. Why is it so important? Because 54,000 veterans and their families are reaching the point of calling a suicide prevention hotline each month in the first place! Two million? Yet the media ignores this? The numbers of suicides and attempted suicides have gone up since 2005 but two million reached out for help? Serious problem here folks!

It's not impossible to do but the way the military is doing it won't get them there from here. To have "Michael Blumenfield, M.D. Sidney E. Frank Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry, New York Medical College" say they can't be prevented tossed in failure as an option. Considering the way the DOD has been addressing PTSD and the VA has been attempting to along with congress, it was not a hard leap for him to make but he needed to think beyond what has been failing and jump on what is possible.

They keep listening to the same experts telling them the same "solutions" when no one is asking any of these "experts" why the hell what they are suggesting has not worked before! If this guy throws his hands up and surrenders on suicide prevention, then what hope is there? We can't save them all. I know that as well as anyone else because I've failed when it mattered to my own family and my husband's nephew committed suicide. I couldn't save him but I've saved others. It is possible to at least save a hell of a lot more than we have but repeating the same mistakes cost too many their lives. Giving up will cost even more.

More vets getting mental health care, more need care

July 30, 2010
More vets getting mental health care, more need care
Posted by Meredith Cohn

As the wars continue in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Department of Veterans Affairs can be sure of something: more people will leave the military in need of long-term medical care – and long-term mental health care.

Robert A. Petzel, undersecretary for health at the VA, was in Baltimore for a meeting of mental health professionals trying to get up to speed on the latest treatments and services, and I was able to quiz him on the latest efforts to care for former service members. Joining in the discussion was Sonja V. Batten, Assistant Deputy Chief Patient Care Services Officer for Mental Health.

They told me that the agency has been working to bolster its staff of mental health professionals – adding 6,000 staffers from the field in the last four years, bringing the total to 20,673.

The VA has also added a suicide prevention hotline, which has taken 293,000 calls in the last two years, referred 35,000 callers to a suicide prevention coordinator and rescued 9,700 of those in immediate crisis.

But the number of those on active duty taking their own lives is, not surprisingly, rising. And many more are coming home from combat distressed.

For post traumatic stress disorders, almost 366,000 vets were treated in fiscal 2009. That number is also rising. There were almost 255,000 treated in fiscal 2006. Of course, during conflicts, there will be more PTSD – as estimated 30 percent of those who served in Vietnam, for example, experienced PTSD and 10 percent of those in the Gulf War did. (About 6.8 percent of Americans will experience PTSD at some time in their lives.)

Officials say a main reason the numbers are going up now is because screening has gotten better. But certainly more vets need care.

In fiscal 2009, more than 1.4 million vets received care from the VA for a mental health problem, up from close to 1.2 million in fiscal 2006.
read the rest here
More vets getting mental health care, more need care

Troubled vets need help sooner, lawmakers told

Finally someone started to ask why so many would need to contact the Suicide Prevention Hot Line in the first place! As they have talked about the success of this no one seemed willing to ask why so many would be brought to that point instead of helped before it got that bad. I've been screaming about this since the reports of the number of calls began to surface. It just didn't make sense to see so many calling and so few "rescued" in the end. It's good the hotline is there but we need to notice how huge of a problem we have when so many have to reach the brink.

Troubled vets need help sooner, lawmakers told
Army Times
By Kelly Kennedy - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Jul 14, 2010 18:04:51 EDT

Even as Veterans Affairs Department officials offered testimony that 10,000 people have been saved by VA’s suicide hotline, veterans themselves said help should come long before a person needs to make that call.

“The suicide hotline is too much of a last alternative,” said Melvin Cintron, an Army veteran who served as a flight medic in Desert Storm and in aviation maintenance in the current war in Iraq. “Either you don’t have enough of a problem and you can wait for weeks for an appointment, or you have to be suicidal.”

Cintron spoke Wednesday before the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee’s oversight and investigations panel.
go here for more
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2010/07/military_suicide_va_071410w/

Calls To Suicide Hot Line On the Rise

Remember, this is not just a suicide prevention line. It's a lifeline when you are in crisis too.

Calls To Suicide Hot Line On the Rise
More Veterans Seeking Help By Calling Hot Line

ALBUQUERQUE, NM -- New Mexico Department of Veteran's Services Dr. Brenda Mayne said that calls to the suicide hot line have been non-stop.

"People are calling just for support right then and there because of a bad nightmare or a flashback, something related to their service, and they want someone who understands to listen," said Mayne.

Statistics show the need for that support has risen in the past three months.

According to the New Mexico VA hospital, for all of 2009 they received about 2,000 calls. From January to March of this year, the hot line has already received 2,000 calls.
read more here
http://www.koat.com/news/23085091/detail.html

VA Suicide Hotline has received almost 225,000 calls

"Hotline has received almost 225,000 calls" and that is a good thing on the surface but this many calls is an indication of how severe the risk is after service because there isn't enough being done.

Why would so many veterans reach such a desperate state, they end up on the verge of suicide? The VA says they "rescued about 6,800 veterans" out of that many calls. What happened to the others? Did they receive help? Did they end up with help filing their claims? Did they receive any kind of emergency help so that they would not end up needing to call the Suicide Prevention Hotline again? That's a point we all need to consider. What happens to the others should matter as much as how things got so bad for them in the first place.

Keep in mind we're not talking about your average citizen absorbed with their own problems. We're talking about men and women willing to lay down their lives for a greater cause other than themselves ending up wanting to die after they survived risking those same lives. None of this should be acceptable.

The other enormous factor is, if Veterans for Common Sense and Veterans United for Truth did not file a law suit and seek documentation from the VA under Freedom of Information Act, nothing would have been done at all.

VA Saves Nearly 7,000 Suicidal Veterans

Secretary Shinseki honored Dr. Janet Kemp, who received the "2009 Federal Employee of the Year" award from the Partnership for Public Service. She helped create the Veterans National Suicide Prevention Hotline to help distraught veterans. Since August 2007, the Hotline has received almost 225,000 calls and rescued about 6,800 veterans, according to VA. VCS supports Dr. Kemp's work and the hotline.

VA set up the hotline after VCS filed suit in July 2007, and after many suicidal veterans had already been turned by a VA still unprepared to handle hundreds of thousands of additional patients from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars on top of the steady flow of new patients flowing into VA due to PTSD, Agent Orange, and the war-exacerbated global economic crisis.

Marine Cpl. Jeffrey Lucey's family had to file a law suit over this.

Posted On: January 24, 2009 by Lebowitz & Mzhen
Federal Government Settles VA Wrongful Death Lawsuit with Family of Iraq War Veteran who Committed Suicide
The federal government has settled a VA wrongful death lawsuit with the family of an Iraq war veteran who killed himself soon after he was denied mental health care. The family will receive $350,000.

Jeffrey Lucey was a corporal in the US Marines who was based in Iraq in 2003. When he came back to the United States, family members says he was having nightmares, behaving erratically, suffering from insomnia and serious depression, and drank a lot. The 23-year-old was involuntarily committed to a VA medical center’s psychiatric unit but was discharged from the hospital after four days following a diagnosis of mood swings and alcoholism.

Two days later, Lucey’s family readmitted him to the hospital after he crashed a car in an attempt to kill himself. He was turned away by a VA hospital nurse who failed to have a psychiatrist examine him.

Lucey hanged himself on June 22, 2004. His family filed their Veterans Affairs wrongful death lawsuit alleging medical malpractice against the United States. The Federal Tort Claims Act allows plaintiffs to file tort lawsuits, including those involving medical malpractice, against parties acting for the federal government.

Although the settlement has been reached, the Assistant US Attorney for the case says the VA is not admitting that it was responsible for Lucey’s suicide. The veteran’s death, however, has led to changes in how the VA medical system works with veterans and suicide prevention.

In 2007, A CBS News’ Investigative Unit found that from 1995 – 2007, almost 2,200 active duty service members killed themselves. The journalism also discovered that when it asked all 50 states for their suicide data for veterans and non-veterans, information sent back from 45 states showed that in 2005, 6,225 individuals who served in the armed forces were among those who committed suicide.

The Lucey family’s wrongful death lawsuit is not the first complaint filed against the federal government alleging that a VA hospital was negligent and therefore responsible for an Iraq war veteran’s suicide.

U.S. to pay $350,000 to family of Belchertown veteran who killed himself, MassLive, January 15, 2009

Suicide Epidemic Among Veterans, CBS News, November 13, 2007
read more here
Federal Government Settles VA Wrongful Death Lawsuit

Lawsuit says VA mishandled claims
Updated 7/24/2007
By Laura Parker, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — A coalition of disabled Iraq war veterans sued the Department of Veterans Affairs on Monday, accusing the VA of illegally denying or delaying claims for disability pay and mental health treatment.
The lawsuit names Secretary of Veterans Affairs Jim Nicholson and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, among others, and asks for sweeping changes in the way the federal government handles claims of more than 1.6 million veterans who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan since 9/11
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-07-23-iraq-vets_N.htm

Notice
Oral argument was heard on the appeal of this case on August 12, 2009. The case is now under submission at the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.


On July 25, 2008 Plaintiffs Veterans for Common Sense and Veterans United for Truth, Inc. filed a Notice of Appeal of the decision issued by Senior Federal District Court Judge Samuel Conti. In his decision, Judge Conti held that although it is clear to the Court that the VA may need "a complete overhaul" the the power to remedy this crisis lies with the other branches of government.

The importance of this appeal is underscored by the fact that a serious suicide epidemic among veterans continues to exist. Meanwhile, VA continues to turn away suicidal veterans, as shown by the recent case of Lucas Senescall in Spokane Washington. The flood of veterans with mental health problems will continue to increase as the wars go on. This is because, as a recent Army study found, repeat deployments increase the risk of PTSD by 50 percent, above and beyond what we are already seeing from veterans discharged from the first few years of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

In his decision, Judge Conti found that many veterans are suffering, and that the VA is the cause of much of that suffering. For these reasons, Plaintiffs believe they should continue to fight, that their cause is valid, and that Judge Conti was incorrect in holding that the courts are without power to grant veterans a remedy.
http://www.veteransptsdclassaction.org/

CBS joined the fight to force the VA to take care of our veterans.

April 21, 2008

VA Hid Suicide Risk, Internal E-Mails Show
Follow-Up Reporting On Exclusive Investigation Reveals Officials Hid Numbers
By Armen Keteyian

Veterans Suicides In Question

In a recently filed lawsuit, the Department of Veterans Affairs is accused of deliberately misinforming the American public about the number of veterans committing suicide. Armen Keteyian reports.

Suicide Epidemic Among Veterans
Help And Resources: Veteran Suicide
(CBS) The Department of Veterans Affairs came under fire again Monday, this time in California federal court where it's facing a national lawsuit by veterans rights groups accusing the agency of not doing enough to stem a looming mental health crisis among veterans. As part of the lawsuit, internal e-mails raise questions as to whether top officials deliberately deceived the American public about the number of veterans attempting and committing suicide. CBS News chief investigative correspondent Armen Keteyian reports.



In San Francisco federal court Monday, attorneys for veterans' rights groups accused the U.S. Department of Veteran's Affairs of nothing less than a cover-up - deliberately concealing the real risk of suicide among veterans.

"The system is in crisis and unfortunately the VA is in denial," said veterans rights attorney Gordon Erspamer.

The charges were backed by internal e-mails written by Dr. Ira Katz, the VA's head of Mental Health.

In the past, Katz has repeatedly insisted while the risk of suicide among veterans is serious, it's not outside the norm.

"There is no epidemic in suicide in VA," Katz told Keteyian in November.
Video Veterans Suicides In Question

read more here
Veterans Suicides In Question

As you can see, for the VA to be able to rescue any veteran, there were people pushing for them to make the changes and a news station willing to make sure the American people found out about it.

For more from Veterans for Common Sense, go here and read how hard they are working for veterans.

VCS Testimony Before Congress

On February 4, the day before the DC blizzard, VCS testified before Chairman Bob Filner and the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs. We shared our strong support for President Obama's VA budget as well as our concerns about VA's inability to properly estimate Iraq and Afghanistan war casualties. This is important because our new war veterans wait longer for VA healthcare and benefits, and they often receive lower disability ratings.

There are too many things that still need to be corrected for the sake of our veterans. Because people are willing to step up and fight, things will change for the better. Maybe then we can finally live up to what George Washington thought,

"The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive veterans of early wars were treated and appreciated by our nation." - George Washington

As bad as the numbers are right now, we will see more Iraq and Afghanistan veterans needing help flooding the system. As the VA tries to deal with the flood there is a tsunami offshore of new veterans heading in. We also have not reached all Vietnam veterans needing care. Because of those willing to fight for those we send to fight, we are closer than we would have been, but we have so much more needing to be done.

VA's Suicide Prevention Program Adds Chat Service

VA's Suicide Prevention Program Adds Chat Service

New Service Expands Online Access for Veterans



WASHINGTON (August 31, 2009) - The Suicide Prevention campaign of the
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is expanding its outreach to all
Veterans by piloting an online, one-to-one "chat service" for Veterans
who prefer reaching out for assistance using the Internet.



Called "Veterans Chat," the new service enables Veterans, their families
and friends to go online where they can anonymously chat with a trained
VA counselor. If a "chatter" is determined to be in a crisis, the
counselor can take immediate steps to transfer the person to the VA
Suicide Prevention Hotline, where further counseling and referral
services are provided and crisis intervention steps can be taken.



"This online feature is intended to reach out to all Veterans who may or
may not be enrolled in the VA health care system and provide them with
online access to the Suicide Prevention Lifeline," said Dr. Gerald
Cross, VA's Acting Under Secretary for Health. "It is meant to provide
Veterans with an anonymous way to access VA's suicide prevention
services."



Veterans, family members or friends can access Veterans Chat through the
suicide prevention Web site (www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org
). There is a Veterans tab
on the left-hand side of the website that will take them directly to
Veteran resource information. On this page, they can see the Hotline
number (1-800-273-TALK), and click on the Veterans Chat tab on the right
side of the Web page to enter.



Veterans retain anonymity by entering whatever names they choose once
they enter the one-on-one chat. They are then joined by a counselor who
is trained to provide information and respond to the requests and
concerns of the caller.



If the counselor decides the caller is in a crisis, the counselor will
encourage the Veteran to call the Suicide Prevention Hotline, where a
trained suicide prevention counselor will determine whether crisis
intervention techniques are required.



The pilot program, which has been in operation since July 3, has already
had positive results. In one instance, the online counselor determined
that a Veteran in the chat required immediate assistance. The counselor
convinced the Veteran to provide the counselor with a home telephone
number and then remained in the chat room with the Veteran while the
hotline staff called the number and talked to the Veteran's mother. The
hotline counselor worked with the Veteran's mother to convince the
Veteran to be admitted to a medical facility for further treatment.



"The chat line is not intended to be a crisis response line," said Dr.
Janet Kemp, VA's National Suicide Prevention Coordinator at the VA
medical center in Canandaigua, N.Y., where VA's trained counselors staff
the chat line 24 hours a day, seven days a week. VA's suicide
prevention hotline is also staffed continuously.



"Chat responders are trained in an intervention method specifically
developed for the chat line to assist people with emotional distress and
concerns," Kemp said. "We have procedures they can use to transfer
chatters in crisis to the hotline for more immediate assistance."



Both Veterans Chat and the VA's Suicide Prevention Hotline have been
established under the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, which was
established through collaboration between VA and the Substance Abuse and
Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) of the Department of
Health and Human Services.



Since becoming operational in July 2007, VA's Suicide Prevention Hotline
has received more than 150,000 calls, resulting in 4,000 rescues.