Army Releases January Suicide Data

Defense.gov News Release:

The Army released suicide data today for the month of January. Among active-duty soldiers, there were 12 potential suicides: one has been confirmed as suicide, and 11 remain under investigation. For December, the Army reported ten potential suicides among active-duty soldiers. Since the release of that report, three have been confirmed as suicides, and seven remain under investigation.

 

During January 2010, among reserve component soldiers who were not on active duty, there were 15 potential suicides. For December, among that same group, there were seven total suicides. Of those, five were confirmed as suicides and two are pending determination of the manner of death.

 

\”In the new year, we won’t just maintain our current focus on suicide prevention, we’re going to sharpen that focus,\” said Col. Christopher Philbrick, director, Army Suicide Prevention Task Force. \”We’ve made significant changes in our health promotion, risk reduction, and suicide prevention programs, policies, and initiatives. But over the last year, you could describe our Army effort as shining a flood light on the problem of suicide. Now in 2010, we’re going to move from a flood light to a laser light— identifying our most effective programs, so we can target and reinforce what’s working and fix what isn’t.\”

 

In January, the Suicide Prevention Resource Council and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention selected the Army’s \”Ask, Care, Escort\” model for inclusion in their national registry of programs reflecting \”best practices\” in suicide prevention. The Army’s model is one of only thirteen suicide prevention programs, nationwide, included in the registry.