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U.S. transition to 988 suicide and crisis lifeline begins Saturday
31–40 of 354 posts
Re: U.S. transition to 988 suicide and crisis lifeline begins Saturday
#32Earlier quoted context omitted.
call me a cynnic but as an american...this is theater. people already avoid a call to 911 because the subsequent ambulance service is unaffordable and can land you in collections. they avoid the ER for the same reason. 988 assumes anyone who needs crisis care will be able to get it, or even afford it and the ecosystem of services and medications that may ensue. 988 gives, as amber alert did, a can for politicians to…
I don’t disagree. But I’m not sure what alternative I have to hoping this might be the start of something. In Ontario an ambulance trip is about $40. But in the US it can be crippling.
-- An ambulance in Ontario is $40 if you have OHIP - I know plenty of non-OHIP folks who have gotten hit with $200+ ambulance bills - myself included --
Re: U.S. transition to 988 suicide and crisis lifeline begins Saturday
#33No post body was provided.
Re: U.S. transition to 988 suicide and crisis lifeline begins Saturday
#34Don't understand this idea. In UK there's a dozen or so magic numbers with one for each special crisis that you're supposed to memorize. Some are straightforward: 111 (non emergency health), 999 (emergency), but then there's 101, 112, 105? and you're supposed to dial them in certain circumstances. It seems this takes some triage load off, but it also seems like the path from "what's your emergency?" "this is not an e…
112 exists because it's the emergency number in some other countries. So it's smart to have it in the UK as well so foreigners can still call for help even not knowing the local convention.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/112_(emergency_telephone_numbe...
Re: U.S. transition to 988 suicide and crisis lifeline begins Saturday
#35Numbers that I'll never dial if I'm in a sort of crisis.
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Re: U.S. transition to 988 suicide and crisis lifeline begins Saturday
#36Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don’t disagree. But I’m not sure what alternative I have to hoping this might be the start of something. In Ontario an ambulance trip is about $40. But in the US it can be crippling.
-- An ambulance in Ontario is $40 if you have OHIP - I know plenty of non-OHIP folks who have gotten hit with $200+ ambulance bills - myself included --
My last ambulance trip in the US was billed at $12000. With my (good!) insurance I still had to pay $500.
Re: U.S. transition to 988 suicide and crisis lifeline begins Saturday
#37What constitutes a 988 emergency?
I was raised with a sacrosanct view of 911. Do not call unless it is a bona fide emergency. This means something along the lines of a situation outside my expertise that poses a threat to life. Broadly speaking it ranges from medical, physical, security, and probably a host of other things I'm forgetting.
However, I don't have the same instilled ideas about 988. What are the sufficient conditions to place a call, for oneself and for others?
Re: U.S. transition to 988 suicide and crisis lifeline begins Saturday
#38This is a classic regulatory capture. Now that there is a standard number that has to be serviced there will be more demand for the companies providing these services. They in turn get more volume of data to sell off to the brokers.
Data from these numbers is protected by HIPAA and callers can voluntarily be anonymous.
Callers need to exercise a fairly high level OPSEC to maintain anonymity. If you aren’t using some VOIP service, there’s a good chance your call will be traced and the cops will be at your door anyway.
Re: U.S. transition to 988 suicide and crisis lifeline begins Saturday
#39Earlier quoted context omitted.
(1) it reduces non-emergency load on emergency dispatch (or, if you don't route immediately to emergency dispatch, delay in emergencies reaching emergency dispatch.) (2) Emergency dispatch may automatically dispatch police/fire/EMS. That may be counterproductive to (and discourage calls for) some other events that a ready access number is desired for.
(1) "is this an emergency?" yes/no must be close to O(1) (2) is this done in practice or just hypothetical?
That would add overhead to every call. The first question that they ask is: “911. Where is the emergency?”
Re: U.S. transition to 988 suicide and crisis lifeline begins Saturday
#40It's the number to get thousands in medical bills.
Why does this get downvoted? Involuntary commitment is not free in the US.