Conference Agenda

Introduction: Restricting access to lethal means is a key component of suicide prevention activities, particularly activities which reduce access to means of suicide in public spaces. However the impact of interventions varies across studies due to differences in population characteristics and geographical regions. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to establish the effectiveness of interventions to prevent suicide in public places

Methods: 8,643 records identified through searches of four databases; PubMed, Embase, PsycINFO and Scopus from April 2015-July 2025. The Joanna Briggs institute (JBI) Critical Appraisal Checklists was used to critically appraise included studies. A meta-analysis was conducted to assess the effectiveness of interventions.

Results: In total, 19 articles included in review including articles from Asia, Oceania, Europe and North America. Of these, 9 studies examined suicides on rail systems and 10 studies suicides by jumping from a height, while17 papers include restricting access to means, 3 papers focused on encouraging help seeking and 2 papers on increasing the likelihood of interventions by a third party. All included studies reported a reduction in the average yearly suicide rates following installation of interventions.

Conclusions: There was strong evidence that interventions to reduce access to means can significantly reduce the incidence rates of suicide. Appropriately designed physical barriers on public structures such as bridges and quays and restricting access to sites such as cliffs can be very effective. Although the collective evidence is weaker, interventions to encourage help-seeking (also significantly reduce suicide rates. Likewise, interventions to increase the likelihood of intervention by a third party (e.g., patrols or CCTV) were shown to significantly reduce suicide rates when implemented together with other interventions.

Background: The public health prevention model of suicide prevention begins with and relies heavily on surveillance data. Access to a real-time suicide surveillance system will assist in preventing suicide at locations where people frequently take their lives and a timely response. Between January 2019 and May 2022, a pilot Suicide Observatory was conducted in County Cork, Ireland, to examine the feasibility for suicide prevention, which was expanded to County Kerry in April 2021.

Methods: The Suicide Observatory pilot study recorded data on all deaths in County Cork in which the circumstances of the death were consistent with a probable suicide, based on internationally validated screening criteria. Data on probable suicide cases from coroners in County Cork was collected on a fortnightly basis from the coroners.

An independent evaluation was conducted of the pilot Suicide Observatory by the University of Melbourne in 2024-2025.

Results: During the Suicide Observatory pilot study in County Cork, a total of 166 cases of probable suicide were recorded. The majority of coronial verdicts, 44%, were explicitly classified as suicide. For 34%, verdicts remained pending, as definitive conclusions had not yet been reached for legal or procedural aspects. The majority of the deceased were male (78%), and the age range was 12 to 84 years. In terms of ICD classified methods, hanging, strangulation, and suffocation were the most prevalent methods, accounting for 65.1% of cases.

Based on the independent evaluation, the Observatory data was considered of high quality, with demographic and cause-of-death information over 98% complete and acceptable sensitivity and predictive values. The Observatory had demonstrated timely interventions, including increasing safety at public locations and informed resource allocation.

Conclusion: Based on implementation and evaluation of the pilot Suicide Observatory and its impacts on suicide prevention, upscaling and wider implementation of the Suicide Observatory, is recommended.

Background:

The aim of this presentation is to demonstrate the potential benefits of suicide prevention actions that have been implemented based on data obtained through a real-time suicide reporting system (the Suicide Observatory) in Counties Cork and Kerry, Ireland.

Suicide statistics in Ireland are generally obtained from Central Statistics Office data. However, the coroner court system can take up to three years to determine a cause of death, and as a consequence, timely and accurate suicide data are not available.

Methods:

Counties Kerry and Cork have had a real-time suicide surveillance system in operation since 2019. Resource Officers for Suicide Prevention contact the Coroners every 2 weeks in order to obtain pre-inquest data on probable cases of suicide, based on screening via internationally validated screening criteria.

Results:

An overview will be presented of suicide prevention initiatives, directly informed by real-time suicide mortality data, including the erection of support signage in areas with increased numbers of suicide, multi-agency measures to increase safety near waterways, the development of resource booklets and mitigating misinformation in the media in relation presumed suicide clusters. Pre-post implementation data shows that the number of suicides had reduced 2 years following initial implementation of suicide prevention measures at locations near waterways.

Conclusion:

Having access to real-time suicide surveillance data, facilitates early identification, intervention and prevention of suicide in public places. Real-time suicide surveillance systems also provide the required information to identify emerging suicide clusters and emerging methods involved in suicide, and providing a timely response to people affected by suicide, including multi-agency approaches. Real-time suicide data also serves an important purpose in verifying potential misinformation in relation to suicide trends and clusters.

Introduction: Restricting access to suicide means at high-risk locations is an established prevention strategy. However, evidence on whether such interventions lead to displacement to nearby sites remains limited, particularly when accounting for environmental similarities and proximity. We aimed to assess the effectiveness of a safety barrier installed on one bridge in South Korea and its potential impact on four nearby bridges with similar characteristics.

Methods: We analysed eight years of annual suicide deaths and emergency service call-outs for suicidal events at the intervention bridge and four comparison bridges. The barrier was installed in December 2016. Rate ratios (RRs) were estimated for pre-intervention (January 2013–December 2016) and post-intervention (January 2017–December 2020) periods to evaluate changes at the intervention site and pooled effects at comparison sites.

Results: Across all sites, 287 suicides and 2,245 call-outs were recorded. Suicides at the intervention bridge decreased significantly after the barrier installation (RR = 0.37; 95% CI: 0.26–0.54). No significant increase in suicides was observed at the four comparison bridges (pooled RR = 1.37; 95% CI: 0.99–1.90). Emergency call-outs declined at the intervention bridge (RR = 0.89; 95% CI: 0.80–0.99) but increased at comparison bridges (pooled RR = 1.47; 95% CI: 1.14–1.90) during the post-intervention period.

Conclusions: Installing a safety barrier substantially reduced suicides at the intervention bridge without clear evidence of displacement to nearby bridges. Our findings underscore the need for initiatives to streamline a broader approach in site-based intervention, by not only considering intervention sites but also similar sites in close proximity.