Even though National Suicide Prevention Month has come to an end, officers with Barrow County Emergency Services are still keeping it near the top of their priority list.
"Throughout America, and actually throughout the world in a lot of places, suicide is actually on the rise," Captain Scott Dakin, public information officer for Barrow County Emergency Services, said. "We expect it to rise even more under the pandemic that we're experiencing. I think more than ever, we need to be talking about suicide."
Barrow County has a suicide prevention task force that is combination of law enforcement organizations, mental health organizations and the school system all partnering and looking at different ways to bring suicide prevention education to the public.
"One of the areas that we push is connection equals prevention," Dakin said. "What that means is we need to start connecting with each other."
Citizens are encouraged to get to know the warning signs of suicide and what to do in the event someone they are talking with becomes suicidal.
Throughout September, they posted to social media, giving advice to parents on how to deal with the stress of the pandemic.
Dakin said there will be a meeting in the near future to discuss their next outreach program. Because of COVID-19, they need to consider alternate methods of getting their message to the public.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2020/10/942893/barrow-county-emergency-task-force-highlights-suicide-prevention