Army Released February Suicide Data

The Army released suicide data today for the month of February.  Among active-duty soldiers, there were eight potential suicides:  none have been confirmed as suicide, and eight remain under investigation.  For January 2011, the Army reported 15 potential suicides among active-duty soldiers.  Since the release of that report, five cases have been confirmed as suicide, and 10 cases remain under investigation.

During February 2011, among reserve component soldiers who were not on active duty, there were eight potential suicides: one has been confirmed as a suicide, and seven remain under investigation.  For January 2011, among that same group, there were eight total suicides.  Of those, two were confirmed as suicides and six are pending determination of the manner of death.

 “Efforts to mitigate risk and improve the health of the force demand decisive engagement at every echelon.  The complexity of suicide demands the need for a coordinated effort by every member across the Army to reduce the negative outcomes of high-risk behavior, risk-related deaths and suicides,” said Col. Chris Philbrick, deputy director, Army Health Promotion, Risk Reduction Task Force.

Soldiers and families in need of crisis assistance can contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.  Trained consultants are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year and can be contacted by dialing 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or by visiting their website at www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org .

The Army's comprehensive list of Suicide Prevention Program information is located at http://www.preventsuicide.army.mil .

Army leaders can access current health promotion guidance in newly revised Army Regulation 600-63 (Health Promotion) at: http://www.army.mil/usapa/epubs/pdf/r600_63.pdf and Army Pamphlet 600-24 (Health Promotion, Risk Reduction and Suicide Prevention) at http://www.army.mil/usapa/epubs/pdf/p600_24.pdf .

Suicide prevention training resources for Army families can be accessed at http://www.armyg1.army.mil/hr/suicide/training_sub.asp?sub_cat=20 (requires Army Knowledge Online access to download materials).

Information about Military OneSource is located at www.militaryonesource.com or by dialing the toll-free number 1-800-342-9647 for those residing in the continental U.S.  Overseas personnel should refer to the Military OneSource Web site for dialing instructions for their specific location.

Information about the Army’s Comprehensive Soldier Fitness Program is located at http://www.army.mil/csf/ .

The Defense Center for Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury (DCoE) Outreach Center can be contacted at 1-866-966-1020, via electronic mail at Resources@DCoEOutreach.org and at www.dcoe.health.mil .

The website for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention is http://www.afsp.org/ , and the Suicide Prevention Resource Council site is found at http://www.sprc.org/index.asp .

The website for the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors is www.TAPS.org  and they can be reached at -1-800-959-TAPS (8277).