Nilsson Troy hopes bill reduces suicides

Moscow-Pullman Daily News - 3/1/2019

March 01-- Mar. 1--Idaho ranked fifth in the nation in per capita suicide in 2017, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Idaho state Rep. Caroline Nilsson Troy, R-Genesee, hopes a suicide prevention bill that passed the House and Senate this month pushes that statistic in the opposite direction.

The bill, sponsored by Nilsson Troy, urges Idaho's congressional delegation and the Federal Communications Commission to reserve 611 as the national suicide prevention hotline number instead of the existing 11-digit code.

For the three-digit number to become available, approval is still needed from Idaho Gov. Brad Little and the FCC, Nilsson Troy said. She said she expects Little to sign the bill.

Nilsson Troy has been on the Idaho Council on Suicide Prevention the past four years and has been looking for ways to reduce suicide.

Suicide was the eighth-leading cause of death in Idaho in 2016, according to the CDC. It is the second-leading cause of death for Idahoans ages 15-34 and for males up to age 44, according to the Suicide Prevention Action Network of Idaho.

"It's going to be a series of little steps to help us reduce this suicide rate," she said. "There's not going to be a simple solution."

Nilsson Troy said 611 is much easier to remember than the long 800 numbers provided by the state and national hotlines.

"Do you go online and look it up and then call it?" she said. "That's crazy."

The measure passed the House with a 62-8 vote. Nilsson Troy said those who voted against it stated those in crisis can call 911.

In a possible suicide situation, Nilsson Troy said, dialing 911 adds an additional step since dispatchers would eventually transfer the person to a suicide prevention hotline anyway.

She said older white men also have a high suicide rate in Idaho and she learned that many of them do not want to call 911 out of fear of talking to the police.

"They're in crisis," she said. "They need to call someone that can talk to them about suicide and it's a barrier. (611) takes that barrier away."

Garrett Cabeza can be reached at (208) 883-4631, or by email to gcabeza@dnews.com.

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