Effective Suicide Screening and Assessment in the Emergency Department Act of 2019

Floor Speech

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Mr. BILIRAKIS. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman yielding.

I rise today in support of H.R. 4861, the Effective Suicide Screening and Assessment in the Emergency Department Act.

Our Nation remains in the midst of a suicide crisis, Mr. Speaker. Over the past several decades, the suicide rate has risen sharply, increasing by 31 percent since 2001--this is unacceptable-- making suicide the 10th leading cause of death and claiming an estimated 47,000 lives annually.

A 2016 study found that 11 percent of all emergency department patients exhibited suicidal ideation. However, only 3 percent of those patients were diagnosed by current screening tools. Furthermore, about 70 percent of patients who leave the emergency department after a suicide attempt never attend their first outpatient follow-up appointment.

At the same time, emergency departments, which are often the place within our healthcare system that provides care for people who are at risk for suicide, have inconsistent protocols for screening and treating high-risk patients.

For this reason, I introduced with my friend and colleague, a true statesman, Congressman Engel, the Effective Suicide Screening and Assessment in the Emergency Department Act.

The bill creates a voluntary HHS program to assist emergency departments in developing protocols for identifying, assessing, and treating individuals at risk for suicide, with preference given to either critical access hospitals or hospitals located in a geographic area with a suicide risk that is higher than the national rate.

Grants last for 2 years, and grantees must submit a report annually on their efforts to improve the identification, assessment, and discharge policies for individuals who are at risk for suicide.

This proactive approach is very vital, because emergency departments are often, again, the first and, sadly, too often, the only point of contact within the healthcare system for those most at risk for suicide, like individuals living with severe mental health conditions or substance use disorders.

With the added physical, mental, emotional, and economic stress this pandemic has inflicted on American lives, there is growing data and a consensus of concern from public health experts and stakeholders that these stressors could lead to even more lives lost to suicide.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to pass the Effective Suicide Screening and Assessment in the Emergency Department Act to further equip our health providers to recognize and assist these patients in crisis.

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