Study: Emergency department presentations with suicide and self-harm ideation: a missed opportunity for intervention?

This study aims to examine the characteristics of those presenting to Emergency Departments with suicidal ideation and quantify the associated risk of suicide and other causes of death. Identifying people with suicidal ideation is recognised to be both important but difficult in practice; this study shows that presentations to Emergency Departments with self-harm or suicide ideation represent an important potential intervention point for this hard-to-reach vulnerable population. However, and unlike individuals presenting with self-harm, clinical guidelines for the management and recommended best practice and care of these individuals are lacking.