(Undated)– Just like 9-1-1, organizers behind the new three-digit number for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline hope it becomes easy to remember for the public. The switch to “9-8-8” happened Saturday, with awareness campaigns ramping up in states such as Iowa. The N-S-P-L takes calls 24-7 from those experiencing a mental-health, substance-use or suicide crisis. The F-C-C and Congress authorized the change to its new number.
Drew Martel is with the Foundation 2 crisis center, one of two locations in the state that will keep staffing the service for Iowans who call. He says it coincides with Americans being more open about addressing mental health…
The line has grown to more than three million calls and texts per year. A trained counselor will talk to the person and determine if a crisis response is needed. The federal government has helped with initial funding to enhance the service, but Martel acknowledges Iowa is one of many states that needs to establish sustainable resources to handle demand in the future.
Martel says the switch to 9-8-8 also could divert people experiencing a crisis away from unnecessary hospitalizations and encounters with the criminal-justice system…
Around Iowa, jurisdictions have crisis response teams that can include a mental-health professional paired with law enforcement, a professional responding on their own, or police trained in crisis intervention. Groups such as NAMI note that not all of Iowa has a formal unit, while adding that 80 percent of these calls can be managed in the field.
Meanwhile, Iowa also operates its own statewide crisis line, Your-Life-Iowa. Like the national line, Your-Life-Iowa has experienced higher demand.
(Courtesy Iowa News Service)
