Does a Safety Plan in the Emergency Department Prevent Suicide?

Some clinicians have hypothesized that comprehensive safety plans for acutely suicidal patients would lower their suicide risks. Researchers examined outcomes after a new intervention in five Veterans Affairs (VA) emergency departments (EDs; 1186 discharged patients) with usual care in four, retrospectively identified VA EDs (454 discharged patients). Patients had “suicide-related concerns” (not defined) and were deemed not to require hospitalization.

The intervention (SPI+) consisted of personalized safety planning that addressed recurrence of suicidality, supports and coping mechanisms, and eliminating means of suicide and provided follow-up telephone calls (mean, 3.7) for risk assessment, plan revisions, and encouragement of treatment eng…