Coalition launches suicide fatality review process

JACKSON (WNE) — The Community Prevention Coalition, which works to prevent suicide in Jackson Hole, is leading a new fatality review process to examine circumstances leading to suicide deaths in Teton County.
Composed of law enforcement, hospital and public health staffers, and Teton County Coroner Dr. Brent Blue, the review team plans to meet quarterly to identify risk factors and to workshop local policy recommendations that could help prevent suicides.
The approach mirrors one taken by a review team in Washington County, Oregon, which helped reduce its local suicide rate by 40% over a six-year period.
Mental health has long been a problem in Wyoming, where suicide is a leading cause of preventable deaths. According to the Wyoming Division of Victim Services, suicide is currently the second-leading cause of death for ages 10 to 24.
There have been two suicide deaths in Teton County this year, and both were people younger than 24.
“We have a significant problem in this county with suicides,” said Blue, a longtime Jackson physician. “And we’ve had that problem for many years — basically as long as I’ve lived here.”
In addition to funding, Blue said, providers need to continue to address the stigmas associated with poor mental health.
It will be difficult to get families to share the circumstances of a loved one’s death by suicide, Beverly Shore, Jackson’s community prevention specialist and a leader of the new review team, told the Jackson Hole Daily. But she also believes that sharing can be a vehicle for positive change.
The first review could happen this month, Shore said Wednesday. 
 
For help with suicidal thoughts, call the Wyoming LifeLine at (800) 273-8255 or the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at (800) 273-8255. 
 
This story was published on June 10, 2022.