Idaho Suicide Prevention Hotline starts this fall

SANDPOINT - Years of work, fundraising and collaboration will pay off for Idaho this fall when the Idaho Suicide Prevention Hotline opens for business.

"This is so exciting. I'm terrified we have to have a hotline and that we need it so desperately," says Catherine Perusse, regional chair of the Suicide Prevention Action Network North Idaho North Chapter. "But I'm so thankful the hotline is back in place, and we can truly offer viable referrals to people."

Trained volunteers will staff the hotline that will open part-time statewide in November with a goal of operating full-time round the clock in the near future. Suicide prevention advocates are working now to collect therapist referrals for the 248 cities and towns throughout the state.

"State hotlines are so important because they know the local resources," Perusse says. "They don't send callers to someone 300 miles away from them."

Idaho had a suicide prevention hotline until 2006, when it ran out of money to continue the service. Since then, calls from Idahoans to the National Suicide Prevention Hotline have been routed to Portland, Ore., and Idaho's suicide rate has crept up to the fourth highest in the nation. The state's highest suicide rate is in the five northern counties, where 53 suicides in 2010 equaled 25 deaths per 100,000 residents.

SPAN Idaho will announce this fall when the Idaho Suicide Prevention Hotline is activated. The National Suicide Prevention Hotline continues to take calls from Idaho at 1-800-273- TALK.