Adolescent Crisis Care for Embracing Safety Skills (ACCESS)

Suicide rates increase with age, with a dramatic increase from childhood to adolescence. While mortality rates of many pediatric medical illnesses have waned over the last decade, the adolescent suicide rate increased 75% between 2009 and 2018. Our team has identified the Emergency Department (ED) as a primary touch point to mitigate suicide risk, as many youth at high risk present to the ED due to a suicide crisis. Approximately 4% of all ED visits are due to suicidality, and ED visits among youth for suicide risk continue to grow with a documented increase of 24% from 2007-2015. With suicide prevention as a national priority, early suicide detection and intervention programs are being implemented across settings with the ED established as a particularly critical venue for screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment (SBIRT), as the ED is the portal into mental health services for most suicidal youth. Further, interventions situated in the ED have been demonstrated to be feasible and effective in linking to care and mitigating future risk.