By Cheryl Jahn

988 a huge success

Dec 5, 2024 | 3:23 PM

PRINCE GEORGE – “Given that the alarming rate of suicide in Canada constitutes a national health crisis, the House [of Commons] calls on the government to take immediate action in collaboration with our provinces to establish a national suicide prevention hotline.”

That was Cariboo-Prince George MP Todd Doherty in December 2020 and the national suicide prevention 988 hotline has been up and running for a year now.

“Although it’s national, we always focus on local callers,” says Riley Skinner, Executive Director of the Crisis Prevention, Intervention & Information Centre. “So callers who are in the North or Prince George, they’re prioritized to come to us since local callers know local service users better.”

And the simplicity of the national suicide prevention line is its biggest asset.

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“The thing that’s different is accessibility and it is three digits,” says Skinner. “And there are many, many different types of lines. Even in B.C. alone, there are maybe upwards of 15 different types of crisis and helplines.”

Three simple numbers cuts out the confusion and the key to its success is there is always someone at the other end of the phone line.

“There are a lot of things that we do to ensure that. I said earlier that local responders are better equipped to support local service users, but in the essence of time, not always. So calls would bullseye away from where you’re located. Until we’re able to find someone who can support you, we’d rather a call be answered than wait to connect to someone local.”

Since its inception, 988 crisis responders have answered more than 300,000 calls or texts. That’s about a thousand calls daily. In BC, 988 responds to 3,500 calls a month and locally, responders answer 6988 calls a year. As with so many agencies, the crisis line, including 988, operates with volunteers.

“We, of course, typically work in like a shift work style. So we don’t have 30 people here at the center right now, but we will change shifts throughout the day and into the weekend to ensure that we’re always available when people need us.”

If you think you have what it takes to be a crisis line responder, give them a call at 250-564-5736