CDC RECOMMENDATIONS FOR A COMMUNITY PLAN FOR THE PREVENTION AND CONTAINMENT OF SUICIDE CLUSTERS1
A community should review these recommendations and develop its own response plan BEFORE the onset of a suicide cluster.
The response to the crisis should involve all concerned sectors of the community and should be coordinated by
--a coordinating committee, which manages the day-to-day response to the crisis and --a host agency, whose responsibilities would include "housing" the plan, monitoring the incidence of suicide, and calling meetings of the coordinating committee when necessary.
The relevant community resources should be identified.
The response plan should be implemented under either of the following two conditions:
--When a suicide cluster occurs on the community --When one or more deaths from trauma occur in the community, especially among adolescents or young adults, which may potentially influence others to attempt or complete suicide,br>
If the response plan is to be implemented, the first step should be to contact and prepare those groups who will play key roles in the first day of hte response.
The response should be conducted in a manner that avoids glorification of the suicide victims and minimizes sensationalism.
Persons who may be at high risk of suicide should be identified and have at least one screening interview with a trained counselor; these persons should be referred for further counseling or other services as needed.
A timely flow of accurate, appropriate information should be provided to the media. (See the media guidelines for reporting on suicide.)
Elements in the environment that might increase the likelihood of further suicides or suicide attempts should be identified and changed.
Long-term issues suggested by the cluster should be addressed.
*Original Source: CDC's "Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report" MMWR, 1988;37 (suppl S-6): 1-12. Download a copy of the complete MMWR article.
1. The summary of the CDC article on this page is from SIEC Alert #36, July 1999: "The Challenge of Suicide Clusters." SIEC, the Suicide Information & Education Collection, publishes quarterly SIEC Alerts on suicide prevention. SIEC is a part of Canada's Centre for Suicide Prevention
Centre for Suicide Prevention, an excellent, comprehensive resource in the field of suicide prevention.
