Safety Planning for Youth in the Emergency Department Who Have Suicide Risk
Suicide remains a leading cause of death among US youth. The emergency department (ED) is a critical access point for identifying suicide risk and initiating interventions to reduce that risk. Key strategies include developing individualized safety plans and counseling on reducing access to lethal means. This article reviews the current evidence supporting ED safety planning for youth at risk of suicide and presents a practical framework for its delivery. It also explores strategies to enhance the implementation of safety planning and lethal means counseling, including using clinical pathways, training of staff, optimizing reimbursement, and integrating resources into the electronic medical record system. Finally, the article highlights emerging innovations aimed at improving the reach of safety plan interventions in the ED setting.
Authors
- Donna Mendez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2657-354X)
- Ilene Claudius (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3292-9696)
- Samuel H. F. Lam (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8134-1231)
- Muhammad Waseem (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1927-3899)
- Megan M. Mroczkowski (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2904-2821)
- Tabitha Cheng (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9976-2448)
- Genevieve Santillanes (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3349-0379)
- Ashley A. Foster (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3059-6218)
- Carmen Sulton (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0833-5350)
- Joyce Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8112-2701)
- Jennifer A. Hoffmann (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1653-363X)
- Mohsen Saidinejad (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4782-0597)
- Theresa A. Walls
- Stephen Sandelich (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0000-2940-4699)
- Gwen Hooley
- Alexandra Lauren Rice (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9803-8474)
- Kathleen T. Berg
- Ann Dietrich
- Sophia Lin
Institutions
- Northwestern University (US)
- Tufts University (US)
- Lincoln Medical Center (US)
- Prisma Health (US)
- Boston Children's Hospital (US)
- Tufts Medical Center (US)
- Lurie Children's Hospital (US)
- Children's Hospital of Los Angeles (US)
- Harvard University (US)
- Emory University (US)
- University of California, Los Angeles (US)
- University of California, San Francisco (US)
- Cornell University (US)
- Children's Hospital Colorado (US)
- Los Angeles Medical Center (US)
- Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute (US)
- Weill Cornell Medicine (US)
- The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston (US)
- New York University (US)
- University of Pennsylvania (US)
- Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center (US)
- The University of Texas at Austin (US)
- University of Colorado Denver (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Journal of the American College of Emergency Physicians Open
- Published
- 2025-11-06
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acepjo.2025.100275
- Primary Topic
- Suicide and Self-Harm Studies
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00