Suicide Prevention

For emergencies that need an immediate response, call or text 9-1-1.

In a crisis, you can also turn to the resources below.

1. Suicide Crisis Hotlines (24/7)

• San Mateo County Crisis Line: call 650-579-0350
• National 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline: call or text 988
• Visit the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline for additional phone/chat options (online chat, Spanish speakers, Veterans, deaf or hard of hearing or disaster distress line)

2. Psychiatric Emergency Services

San Mateo Medical Center
650-573-2662
222 West 39th Avenue, San Mateo, CA 94403

Mills-Peninsula Medical Center
650-696-5915
1501 Trousdale Drive, Burlingame, CA 94010

Start the conversation

Simply asking “Are you okay?” or “I’ve noticed you’ve been feeling hopeless a lot lately” can open the door to a conversation about getting help.

Make it safe at home

The majority of people who survive suicide never attempt it again. Safely storing medicines and guns (if you own them) in the home removes the opportunity for someone to act.

You or someone you know might not be thinking about suicide. However, you or someone you know may want a caring person to chat with about specific issues. See below for resources.

Make it safe at school

The Suicide Prevention Poster for schools is a tool that can be used to help faculty and staff remember the risk factors and warning signs of students at risk of suicide. Download it in the resource library below.

These posters are available from San Mateo County Behavioral Health and Recovery Services in partnership with the San Mateo County Office of Education free of charge and are presented to faculty and staff along with a brief training on how to identify at risk students and what to do when they have been identified.

Get trained to help others

Take one of the trainings listed in the Suicide Prevention Trainings section to learn how to identify warning signs and support someone considering suicide.

COMMUNITY HELPER TRAININGS
To gain more in-depth knowledge on how to support someone who is considering suicide or at risk of suicide, you can explore www.suicideispreventable.org and/or take one of the following free, evidence-based community helper trainings.

Peninsula Suicide Prevention offers 1 to 3-hour suicide prevention and community resource presentations, suicide assessment clinical trainings, as well as post-crisis interventions, for local school districts, non-profit organizations, government agencies, and community-based organizations. For more information at https://felton.org/social-services/adult/san-mateo-suicide-prevention-smsp/smsp-training-request-form/.

Be Sensitive, Be Brave is a 2-hour foundational workshop that infuses culture and diversity throughout. There are two versions of the workshop – Be Sensitive Be Brave for Mental Health and Be Sensitive Be Brave for Suicide Prevention. More information at https://smchealth.org/bsbb.

Mental Health First Aid is a 8 hour skills-based training course that teaches you how to identify, understand and respond to signs of mental health or substance uses signs or crises. The County offers two version of this workshop – Adult Mental Health First Aid, Youth Mental Health First Aid and Teen Mental Health First Aid. More information at https://smchealth.org/mhfa.

Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST) is a 2-day interactive in-person workshop in suicide first aid. ASIST teaches participants to recognize when someone may be at risk of suicide and work with them to create a plan that will support their immediate safety. Although ASIST is widely used by healthcare providers, participants don’t need any formal training to attend the workshop—ASIST can be learned and used by anyone. More information at https://www.smchealth.org/asist.

Reconozca Las Señales (RLS) is a 2.5-hour, Spanish-language session designed to reduce the stigma surrounding mental health, raise awareness, and promote suicide prevention. The workshop provides participants with practical tools and resources to recognize the warning signs of suicide and connect individuals to the help they need. More information at https://www.smchealth.org/general-information/know-signs-reconozca-las-senales.

For more information, contact San Mateo County Suicide Prevention Committee Co-Chairs Sylvia Tang, She/Her/Hers (650-208-5799 | stang@smcgov.org) and Taylor Coutts, She/Her/Hers (650-727-7184 | tcoutts@felton.org).

Safe Messaging Training
A suicide prevention safe messaging training is offered annually. Participants will learn about responsible media reporting, how to engage the news media as partners in suicide prevention, and how to create effective suicide prevention materials and talking points. Target audience includes public information officers, social media managers or influencers, print media professionals (newspapers, magazines, journals, newsletters), broadcast media professionals (television, radio), journalists and student journalists and presenters/trainers who present on suicide and suicide prevention.

To address the increased need for suicide prevention in the community, the Suicide Prevention Committee (further described in below section) developed the second Suicide Prevention Roadmap for San Mateo County. The Suicide Prevention Roadmap 2021-2026 is part of a larger vision to reduce suicide deaths, suicide attempts and pain associated with suicidal thoughts so that everyone in our community can realize healthy and meaningful lives. Both Executive Summary and Full Report are available to review and share widely.

The Roadmap builds off of the first Suicide Prevention Roadmap 2017-2020  and the California Striving for Zero Suicide Prevention Strategic Plan 2020-2025. There are many uses, and benefits of this Roadmap and we hope you can utilize it for one or more of the following ways:

1. Data to understand our local needs, best practices and inform local prevention efforts.
2. Education on how to approach, support and refer those who are at risk for suicide.
3. Resource directory of local suicide prevention programs and activities.
4. Opportunities to lead and/or collaborate that are guided by a comprehensive plan.

To stay informed and to get involved, you are welcome to join the San Mateo County Suicide Prevention Committee and contact Co-Chairs Sylvia Tang, She/Her/Hers (650-208-5799 | stang@smcgov.org) and Taylor Coutts, She/Her/Hers (650-727-7184 | tcoutts@felton.org).

San Mateo County is honored to work with suicide loss and attempt survivors in advancing suicide prevention work and spreading messages of hope, recovery and resilience. In the resource library below, you will find suicide survivors’ messages of hope in different artistic forms. We greatly appreciate their courage and passion to share.