VA’s Suicide Hotline: 10,000 Rescues and Counting

Press release

The Department of Veterans Affairs National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is on track to record its 10,000th rescue — an achievement likely to occur some time around the Fourth of July. That’s 10,000 Veterans who would not be here today had they not called the VA Lifeline and talked to a trained responder — a responder who deemed it necessary to take immediate action to save the caller’s life.

\”These are people who call us, but they’ve already taken pills, or they have a gun in their hands, or they’re standing on a bridge,\” explained Jan Kemp, VA’s National Suicide Prevention Coordinator. \”These are the calls where we can’t wait. We call emergency services right away.\”