TULSA, Okla. — September is suicide prevention month and with the new 988 Crisis Line now available, we wanted to look at where people can turn for help.
The new nationwide hotline debuted in July and while it’s been busy, organizations like Community Outreach Psychiatric Emergency Services (COPES) have also remained busy.
Jeff Dismukes, with the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, says since July 5, the 988 hotline has received more than 5,000 calls from Oklahomans.
"We anticipate that this demand will continue to rise," says Dismukes.
Those who call 988 are connected to a mental health expert who talks things through with them to help them find the best resources in their areas, such as therapy and counseling. Dismukes says about 80 percent of calls to 988 are resolved over the phone.
"But when needed, we can make a warm hand-off to behavioral health services at the community level," Dismukes said. "Or we can dispatch mobile crisis teams when necessary."
One of those crisis teams is COPES here in Tulsa. A resource available through family and children services.
"The number of calls that we've been dispatched out to from 988, we've been able to stabilize those individuals in the community on 75 percent of the calls," says Amanda Bradley, the Associate Chief Program Officer at COPES.
Bradley says despite the new hotline, calls to COPES are increasing. Bradley says Tulsa has the second highest call volume in the state. Just like 988, COPES connects callers to resources, and at times, COPES employees are dispatched to the caller’s location to help them in person.
COPES and 988 say they follow up with callers a couple of hours later and then a couple of days after that.
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