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Suicide Prevention Coalition
For family or individual crisis support, call 988. In the case of immediate danger or loss of life, call 911.
Thank you for visiting the Frederick County Suicide Prevention Coalition’s website. We hope this site can be a trusted source of local data, a repository for links to resources both local, state, and national, and a place you can stay informed about the activities of this Coalition.
What's this all about?
The mission of the Frederick County Suicide Prevention Coalition is to make Frederick County free of suicide through community collaboration rooted in suicide prevention best practices for safe and responsible gun storage, eliminating stigma surrounding suicide, and support for anyone thinking of or impacted by suicide.
Want more information?
Contact us at: SuicidePreventionCoalition@frederickcountymd.gov
- Suicide Prevention
- Extreme Risk Protective Orders (ERPO)
- Collaborators
- Subcommittees
- Data & Reports
- Suicide and Overdose
- Agendas & Minutes
Warning Signs of SuicideIt is important to be aware and notice the warning signs of suicide. Warning signs of suicide can vary person to person, some individuals may only display a few warning signs while other individuals may display many. Warning signs can include any of the following: Talking about:
Behavior:
Mood:
| How to Talk to Someone Thinking About SuicideDiscussing suicide or asking questions about thoughts of suicide will NOT put the idea of suicide in someone’s head or push them into action Ask
Be present
Prioritize safety
If they are in immediate danger: Stay with them. Do not leave them alone. Call 911! Help them access help
Follow up
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Extreme Risk Protection Orders (ERPO) is a court-issued civil order temporarily requiring a person to surrender any firearms or ammunition to law enforcement; and not purchase or possess firearms or ammunition. When deciding whether to issue an ERPO, courts should consider evidence-based criteria, not a mental health diagnosis, and whether the risk of violence is imminent. And ERPO can be temporary up to two weeks, or last up to a year.
Maryland's Extreme Risk Protective Order (ERPO) took effect on October 1, 2018.
For details on how to apply for an EPRO, go to https://mdcourts.gov/district/ERPO.
The following is a list of agencies and sectors that work collaboratively with the Frederick County Health Department / Local Behavioral Health Authority:
- Brunswick Police Department
- Coalition for a Healthier Frederick County
- Faith Based Community Representatives
- Firearms Retailer
- Frederick Community College
- Frederick County Child Advocacy Center
- Frederick County Department of Social Services
- Frederick County Division of Fire and Rescue Services
- Frederick County Emergency Management
- Frederick County Public Schools
- Frederick County Senior Services Division
- Frederick County Sheriff's Office
- Frederick Health Hospice
- Frederick Health Hospital
- Frederick Police Department
- Harm Reduction Services / Frederick County Health Department
- Martinsburg VA Medical Center – Veterans Crisis Line, Spread the Word
- Maryland State's Attorney Office - Community Resources
- Maryland Treatment Centers
- Maryland's Commitment to Veterans
- Mental Health Association of Frederick
- Mountain Manor - Outpatient Substance Use Treatment Provider
- Office of Suicide Prevention, MDH
- Platoon 22 – Supportive Veteran’s Organization
- Serving Together – Supportive Veteran’s Organization
- Sheppard Pratt
- Survivor of Suicide & Suicide Loss Survivor
- The Frederick County Community Foundation
- The Ranch - Residential Substance Use Disorder Treatment Provider
- Trauma Responsive Frederick
We have a Steering Committee to provide overall support to our four sub-committees:
Steering Committee: The Steering Committee helps the Co-Chairs of the FCSPC create meeting agendas, review FCSPC membership, and suggest Coalition Membership agreements.
- Outreach and Education: The Outreach and Education Committee is focused on enhancing our community’s understanding of death by suicide, dispelling myths about how to talk to people experiencing thoughts of suicide, and reducing the amount of stigma surrounding talking openly and honestly about suicide.
- Responsible Gun Ownership: The Responsible Gun Ownership Committee strives to foster collaborations across multiple sectors of our community to promote safe and responsible gun ownership. The goal is to reduce low barrier access to firearms for people experiencing thoughts of suicide.
- Postvention / Supportive Services: The Postvention Committee works to enhance how our community responds after a death by suicide. The goal of postvention is to facilitate healthy grieving and healing at both the individual and community level.
- Veterans: The Veterans Suicide Prevention committee works to promote suicide prevention strategies specific to meet the needs of Veterans through education, connection to mental health resources, and advocacy.
Have questions for a subcommittee? Contact us at SuicidePreventionCoalition@FrederickCountyMD.Gov.
Deaths of Despair
Suicide, drug overdose, and alcohol-related deaths – known together as “deaths of despair” – are increasing across the United States.
Suicide and Overdoses
The connection between overdose and suicide has been increasing. Something you can do is to have Naloxone (or Narcan) available to use.
The slides below show data from our 2022 Suicide Prevention Report. The Report is available as a pdf document under the "Data & Reports" tab above.
Local Resources:
The Mental Health Association of Frederick County provides information on how to access help for individuals or families, how to access help through walk-in behavioral health services and what behavioral health services are available for access. For further information, visit: fcmha.org
The Frederick Center provides information to support the LGBTQ+ community to include information on groups, events, Frederick Pride and resources. For further information, visit: thefrederickcenter.org
State Resources:
The Maryland Department of Health Suicide Prevention Program provides information about MDMINDHEALTH that provides support to individuals via text messages, increasing awareness of suicide and improving preparedness to prevent suicide. For further information, visit: https://health.maryland.gov/bha/suicideprevention/Pages/home.aspx
Governor’s Commission on Suicide Prevention was created to strengthen and coordinate the state’s suicide prevention, Postvention services and intervention. For further information, commission meetings and to view the Commission Suicide Prevention Plans, visit: https://health.maryland.gov/bha/suicideprevention/Pages/governor's-commission-on-suicide-prevention.aspx
The Maryland Suicide Prevention Resource Center provides information about suicide, effective prevention, training, news and an online library. For further information, visit: sprc.org/states/maryland
The Mental Health Association of Maryland provides information on how to get help, how to get involved and further information about the Mental Health Association including events, history and publications. For further information, visit: mhamd.org/
Maryland’s State Suicide Prevention Plan 2020 provides information on trends, data, background and goals/objectives of the plan. For further information, visit: https://health.maryland.gov/bha/suicideprevention/Documents/2020%20Maryland%20State%20Suicide%20Prevention%20Plan.pdf
The Maryland Extreme Risk Protective Order (ERPO) Law provides information on what ERPO is, what it can/cannot do, how to apply for ERPO and answers other Q&A’s regarding ERPO. For further information, visit: mdcourts.gov/district/ERPO
The Maryland Safe Firearm Storage Map provides information on out-of-home temporary, voluntary firearm storage to include the map of locations within Maryland and further information on when and how to access safe storage locations. For further information, visit: mdpgv.org/safestoragemap
The Maryland Governor’s Challenge to Prevent Suicide among Service Members, Veterans, and Families provides information about the purpose, priority areas, VA resources and talking points. For further information, visit: https://veterans.maryland.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/Governors-Challenge-Communications-Toolkit.pdf
National Resources:
The Mental Health Association provides specific support for LGBTQ+ individuals at https://mhanational.org/lgbtq/pride
The Center for Disease Control provides data/facts regarding suicide, information on where to get help and prevention strategies for suicide prevention. For further information, visit https://www.cdc.gov/suicide/index.html
The National Institute for Mental Health provides an oversight of suicide, warning signs of suicide, risk factors of suicide, treatment and therapies, ongoing research and where to get help if you or someone you know is in crisis. To connect further with NIH, visit https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/suicide-prevention
The American Association of Suicidology provides information regarding crisis resources, media and resources. For further information visit suicidology.org
The American Foundation of Suicide Prevention provides ways to get help, how to get involved in suicide prevention, facts about suicide and real stories. For further information visit afsp.org
The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline is active across the United States. To obtain further information on how to connect with the Lifeline by calling, texting or chatting 988 when experiencing a crisis or the features of the 988 Lifeline, visit https://988lifeline.org/current-events/the-lifeline-and-988/
The Crisis Text Line provides ways to connect (text, chat or WhatsApp) with a volunteer Crisis Counselor 24/7. To be connected visit crisistextline.org or text HOME to 741741.
The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Mental Health, Suicide Prevention Workgroup provides an oversight of the workgroup and ways to get connected. Visit https://www.jhsph.edu/departments/mental-health/centers/suicide-prevention/ for further information about the Suicide Prevention Workgroup.
The National Alliance of Mental Illness (NAMI) provides support and education surrounding those affected by mental illness of any age and background. For further information visit nami.org
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMSHA) provides ways to get help for yourself or someone you know and information about suicide, warning signs of suicide and who is at risk of suicide. For further information visit, samhsa.gov/suicide
Media and online coverage of suicide should be informed by using best practices. Some suicide deaths may be newsworthy. However, the way media cover suicide can influence behavior negatively by contributing to contagion or positively by encouraging help-seeking. Recommendations for Reporting on Suicide