title: Community responses to a suicidal crisis: implications for suicide prevention.
abstract: We conducted a cross-sectional, random-digit-dial survey to evaluate public responses to a hypothetical question: "If someone you knew was suicidal, what would you do first?" Younger people were more likely to call a suicide hotline, and less likely to go to an emergency room (ER) or call 911; immigrants (in the U.S. < 15 years) were more likely to call 911, and less likely to call a suicide hotline; African Americans were more likely to go to the ER and call 911; Hispanics were more likely to call 911 but less likely to call a suicide hotline. These results suggest that public messages about hotlines and emergency options for suicidal patients need to be tailored to relevant population characteristics including age, education, ethnicity, and language preferences.
authors.affiliation: Yale University School of Medicine, Department of Emergency Medicine, 464 Congress Avenue, Suite 260, New Haven, CT 06519, USA. gluke.larkin@yale.edu
authors.forename: Gregory Luke
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Larkin
authors.forename: Hector
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Rivera
authors.forename: Hongzhi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Edward
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Rincon
authors.forename: Annette L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Beautrais
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D003156:Community Mental Health Services; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004630:Emergencies / Q000523:psychology*; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital; D005260:Female; D015277:Hotlines; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D044469:Racial Groups / Q000523:psychology; D012737:Sex Factors; D055815:Young Adult; D000092864:Suicide Prevention