Title: Preventing Inmate Suicide: The Ultimate Patient Safety Measure
Headings: Preventing Inmate Suicide: The Ultimate Patient Safety Measure
Preventing Inmate Suicide: The Ultimate Patient Safety Measure
Start with Screening
Screening is Only the Beginning
Making the Most of a Bad Outcome

Content: Past suicidal ideation and/or attempts
Current ideation, threat, plan
Prior mental health treatment/hospitalization
Recent significant loss (job, relationship, death of family member/close friend, etc.) Sense of immediate future (inmate expressing helplessness and/or hopelessness)
History of suicidal behavior by family member/close friend
Verification of suicide risk during prior confinement
Arresting/ transporting officer (s) or family member belief that the inmate is currently at risk
Of critical importance is the implementation of reasonable privacy and confidentiality during the intake process. Inmates will simply not respond truthfully to sensitive questions if they are asked in an open environment where reasonable privacy is not available. Intake screening is a very effective way to identify potentially suicidal behavior. Because inmates can become suicidal at any point during their confinement, intake screening will only identify behavior that is self-reported, or provided by others such as law enforcement or family members. Screening is Only the Beginning
While suicide screening at intake has significantly reduced deaths during the first 24 hours of confinement, suicides are now more likely to be evenly distributed during confinement. According to the most recent national study of jail suicides, 23% occurred within first 24 hours, 27% occurred between 2 and 14 days, and 20% between 1 and 4 months. This data suggests that there is need to target other high-risk periods, including when placed in segregation and upon return from court hearings that resulted in bad news. The challenge, of course, is to develop a system that is alert to these sensitive points in the incarceration timeline. One way is to train staff to be more attentive to the behavior of inmates returning from visits or after telephone calls.