VI Crisis responds to 16,000 interactions in first year of operation of 988 suicide crisis hotline

WARNING: This article mentions suicide.

Since the service launched about a year ago, more than 15,000 people have contacted the Vancouver Island Crisis Society at 988, according to the society.

Launched on November 30, 2023, 988 is a national suicide crisis hotline operated by the Center for Addiction and Mental Health that connects people contacting by phone or text with a trained emergency responder who can listen and provide support and guidance to resources .

If there is no overflow, calls are routed to the nearest partner organization based on phone number.

On Vancouver Island, where the Vancouver Island Crisis Association responds, the line received 5,945 calls and 10,146 text messages, for a total of 16,091 people contacted.

Elizabeth Newcombe, executive director of VI Crisis, said the organization was able to de-escalate and support approximately 98 percent of service users, while the remainder, or approximately 317 interactions, required a 911 call.

“People are reaching out for help, and that’s a good thing,” Newcombe told the News Bulletin. “We don’t want anyone to feel alone and isolated. The numbers speak for themselves.”

VI Crisis also operates a 24-hour crisis line on Vancouver Island at 1-888-494-3888, contracted by provincial health authorities, as well as a text crisis line at 250-800-3806 available from 6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., seven days a week . week. Instead of taking away those services, Newcombe said 988 is supplementing them.

“It has had a positive impact on our crisis society. We have a lot of expertise to share, so we were able to share it. We were also able to draw on knowledge from other aid centers, so that’s a plus for us – it definitely offers sustainable financing as well.”

As an example, she gave the crisis SMS line, which operates only during certain hours, but the number 988 is available 24 hours a day.

“So if we’re talking to a young Vancouver Islander, we can let them know there’s a 24-hour text service, but 988 doesn’t offer that option. (website) chatso both services complement each other in offering services to the people of Vancouver Island.”

Newcombe said there are some trends among the variety of crisis services available. Daily interactions tend to increase between 8 p.m. and 4 a.m. and on weekends. She added that the reasons are different.

“People are working during the day, maybe they have other resources they can connect with, test the line and get familiar with it, or maybe this is the moment they can reach out to her.”

Newcombe said that in the future, the association intends to recruit and train more volunteers to run the services, as well as continue to educate people about the availability of 9-8-8 services and encourage them to reach out to them when they need help.

“Due to the pandemic, we have relied on paid emergency workers and are rebuilding our volunteer team. Volunteer training is coming up in February and… we want to start training volunteers on the crisis line again.”