Sec. 604. Program to assist service members at risk of suicide
245 words·~1 min read·
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Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense, in consultation with the Director of the Defense Health Agency, shall develop and implement a centralized program to monitor and provide assistance to members of the Armed Forces at risk of suicide who have been recently discharged from health care, as outlined in Recommendation 6.29 of the final report issued by the Suicide Prevention and Response Independent Review Committee. The centralized program referred to in subsection
(a)shall specify: The individual and agency responsible for conducting service member follow up. The time when initial follow-up will occur. The times when subsequent follow-ups will occur. The manner in which patients will be contacted. The process for documentation of follow-up attempts. The procedures for ensuring patient safety where patient is unreachable. The processes for medical treatment facilities to link mortality data to health care delivery data in order to better identify settings and patients at higher risk of suicide, further inform local suicide prevention strategies for targeted high-risk groups, and ensure compliance with reporting and investigating suicides occurring within 72 hours of discharge from a hospital. For purposes of this section, the term members of the Armed Forces at risk of suicide includes members of the Armed Forces who have attempted suicide and members of the Armed Forces who have been discharged as patients and who have been clinically assessed as benefitting from follow-up support related to suicide prevention.