Things to do

• Listen, show empathy, and be calm;

• Instruct individual not to kill self;

• Be supportive and caring;

• Take the situation seriously and assess the degree of risk;

• Assess prompting event (what happened, what prompted now);

• Ask about previous attempts (if information not already known);

• Explore possibilities other than suicide - identify other skills/behaviors to use to cope with crisis;

• Ask about suicide plan;

• Get commitment to not kill or injure self;

• Identify other supports;

• Remove the means, if possible;

• Take action, tell others, get help;

• If the risk is high, stay with the person.

Things not to do

• Ignore the situation;

• Be shocked or embarrassed and panic;

• Say that everything will be all right;

• Challenge the person to go ahead;

• Make the problem appear trivial;

• Give false assurances;

• Swear to secrecy;

• Leave the person alone.

Commitment, sensitivity, knowledge and concern for another human being, a faith that life is worth nurturing - these are the main resources health care workers have; backed by that they can help to prevent suicide.