WASHINGTON COURT HOUSE, Ohio — A Fayette County coalition working to prevent suicide told partners this week that it will stand up a new team of trained volunteers to reach families in the hours after a suicide, part of what organizers described as the next chapter for the group’s growing effort.
The Community of Hope Fayette County Suicide Prevention Coalition announced plans to launch a Local Outreach to Suicide Survivors, or L.O.S.S., team during its annual meeting on July 16, according to Fayette County Public Health, which helps lead the coalition. The team’s introduction was one of several items partners reviewed as they took stock of the coalition’s work and mapped where it is headed next.
A L.O.S.S. team is a form of what suicide-prevention professionals call postvention — support that follows a death. Under the model, two or more trained volunteers, at least one of them a survivor of suicide loss, offer immediate and compassionate support to those left behind, often within hours. The approach was pioneered by Dr. Frank Campbell, who helped start the first such team in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in the late 1990s, and it has since spread to communities across the country.
Supporters say the early contact matters. Survivors who are left to find grief support on their own often do not connect with it for years, while those reached by a L.O.S.S. team tend to link up with services within weeks.
The coalition said nearly 1 in 6 people in Fayette County do not know where to turn for help during a mental health crisis, a gap it described as the reason the group exists. “No one should face a mental health struggle alone,” the organization said in its post.
At the annual meeting, partners also reviewed the state of the coalition and completed a SWOT analysis — an exercise that weighs a group’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats — to help guide its planning. Organizers said dozens of people from different professions and backgrounds took part.
The coalition has previously offered gatekeeper instruction such as QPR — Question, Persuade, Refer — a short training that teaches people how to recognize the warning signs of a suicide crisis, persuade someone to seek help and refer them to resources. QPR is among the most widely used gatekeeper programs in the world and is built on the idea that anyone, from a neighbor to a co-worker, can be positioned to help.
Looking ahead, the coalition said it hopes to build a stronger organization, expand support for those affected by suicide and “create a community where hope is easier to find, help is easier to access, and no one has to walk alone.”
Anyone experiencing a mental health crisis or thinking about suicide can reach the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988, which connects callers with trained counselors around the clock.
The information contained in this story was obtained from Fayette County Public Health.
