An easy-to-remember National Suicide Prevention Lifeline number – 988 - activates on Saturday with the aim of improving access to crisis services in order to meet the growing suicide and mental health crisis in the country.
“The new shorter number directly addresses the need for ease of access and clarity at times of crisis, both for veterans and non-veterans alike,” said Air Force veteran Dr. Tamara Campbell, acting executive director for the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Mental Health and Suicide Prevention.
To reach the Veterans Crisis Line, veterans will continue to press 1 after dialing 988, Campbell said.
“Medical centers are working to update materials and communications with the new number to spread the word to veterans and their supporters and our community patterns,” she said during a call with reporters on Friday.
Signed into law in 2020, the National Suicide Hotline Designation Act authorized 988 as the new three-digit number for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. All telephone service providers in the U.S. must activate the number no later than this month.
Dr. Matthew Miller, executive director for VA Suicide Prevention, said over the past two years VA has been working to prepare for the change by analyzing needs; measuring demand, and building capacity.
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Miller said the Veterans Crisis Line receives 2,000 calls per day on average, not including 300 to 400 chat and text messages that also come in. Since 2007, 2.6 million calls have been answered by responders on the VCL, leading to 1.1 million referrals to Veterans Health Administration care and 233,000 life-saving emergency services dispatches.
“Our data has demonstrated that VCL callers are at elevated risk for suicide within one to 12 months of their call to the VCL,” he continued. “This is more so than veterans who do not contact the VCL.”
Miller expects a 13% immediate increase in calls to the VCL with the implementation of 988. The number of calls could grow by 40 to 60% by year two of implementation, with a peak of 120 to 150% overall by year three.
To prepare for the implementation, VCL has also increased staffing by more than 50%, Miller said.
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“We address staffing not only from the perspective of those who are directly responding to the veteran calls but also taking the time to build the appropriate support staff.”
VA has also designated funding to ensure adequate numbers of suicide prevention coordinators at its local medical centers across the country, Miller said.
“We are also addressing outpatient mental health staffing and bolstering and augmenting resources and support to local facilities,” he added.
Miller said VA has also developed an outreach call center where veterans offer callbacks to their peers who have called the VCL.
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Veterans may still dial 1-800-273-8255 and Press 1 to be routed to trained VCL responders. The Veterans Crisis Line will still be available by chat (VeteransCrisisLine.net/Chat) and text (838255).
Reach Julia LeDoux at Julia@connectingvets.com.