A look at Salem, N.H., call logs since the onset of the pandemic in 2020 provides a glimpse into a global issue — society steeped in uncertainty.
Amid lockdowns, changing protocols and vaccine development, calls to respond to people experiencing suicidal ideations hit a five-year high in Salem last year with 65 Fire Department responses.
Compared to 2017, that’s possibly a new person every two-and-a-half weeks considering taking their own life. Those cases are only the ones Salem emergency responders were called to.
Need to talk?
The phone number for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-TALK.
Behavioral dispatches, including calls for anxiety and psychiatric issues, as a whole reached a new level in 2020. Records show 173 calls, up from 116 three years prior.
Fire Chief Larry Best talks about the twofold effects on his crews, unable to avoid the unknown at work and at home.
“The pandemic has affected everyone in one form or another,” Best said, noting new challenges and stress regardless of age or profession.
Hope that unprecedented times had passed proved futile.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has continued full force ahead,” he said in January. “And the members of SFD have continued full force ahead as well by being involved in many pandemic efforts to support the state, the community and our members.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention first reported plummeting mental well-being between April and June 2020. A study revealed that 40% of respondents were suffering from at least one behavioral health condition — anxiety, depression and the like — related to the pandemic.
Those trends have continued, as well as others. Substance use ticked up and was repeatedly reported as a coping mechanism.
Salem police calls for domestic violence incidents rose from 163 in 2019 to 305 in 2020 — an 87% increase. Larger studies of the trend have pinpointed heavy drinking in many instances.
Dolan says a partnership started in the fall with Center for Life Management has improved the way officers are able to respond.
“The team is the first in the state to be available 24/7,” Dolan said. “Our officers and supervisors can be equipped with an iPad to make contact between someone in a mental health crisis and a counselor from CLM.”
The counselors can either choose to respond with a two-member team or put the caller in touch with appropriate resources.
Meanwhile, efforts at the Police Department aim to help members on the front lines. Dolan says a nine-person wellness team has worked with local businesses to coordinate exercise opportunities and camaraderie for officers.
“They’re always available to lend an ear or provide guidance to other members,” Dolan said.
Firefighters too are joining in the effort of helping themselves in order to better serve the community.
“There are a few local behavioral health clinicians that work specifically with first responders and veterans,” Best said.
Members of the firefighters union have also worked with the profession’s international association on peer support training.
“Several members of the SFD have attended,” Best said. “And more are interested in attending.”
Despite the times, both departments have made clear that all calls for service are being tended to as usual.
A list of mental health resources compiled by the CDC is available online at cdc.gov/mentalhealth/tools-resources.
The phone number for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-TALK.
___
(c)2022 The Eagle-Tribune (North Andover, Mass.)
Visit The Eagle-Tribune (North Andover, Mass.) at www.eagletribune.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
