Suicide by jumping at beachy head in East Sussex – The impact of a suicide prevention patrol scheme

Abstract

Introduction

Suicide is a major public health issue. It is the leading cause of death among younger adults in the UK. Suicide by jumping is an uncommon method. About 23 people die each year by jumping from the cliffs at beachy head, Sussex. The beachy head chaplaincy established a suicide-prevention patrol at beachy head in August 2004. To date there have been no studies evaluating the impact of a suicide patrol as a prevention strategy. This study aimed to assess the impact of this suicide-prevention patrol.

Methods

Data from local and national official statistics was gathered to examine the overall suicide numbers and rates of suicide by jumping vs. other methods. This included an in-depth scrutiny of coroners’ data and reports from the beachy head chaplaincy.

A qualitative, phenomenological approach using in-depth interviews was used to evaluate the “lived experiences” of members of the suicide-prevention patrol.

Results

The statistics reveal unexpected and at times, conflicting, results which will be offered for discussion.

The thematic analysis of the interviews reveals insights into the motivations for volunteering; how a faith-based patrol works; the physical and psycho-social impact of the work; volunteers’ stories; the centrality of God within their work and motivation.

For copyright reasons full details of the analyses cannot be made available before the conference.

Discussion

We welcome an interactive discussion of the results.

Disclosure of interest

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.