You are here

Article Text

Article menu
Download PDFPDF
Brief report
Preventing suicide by jumping: the effect of a bridge safety fence
  1. Andrew R Pelletier
  1. Division of State and Local Readiness, Coordinating Office for Terrorism Preparedness and Emergency Response, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
  1. Correspondence to:
 Dr A R Pelletier
 11 State House Station, Key Bank Building, 8th Floor, 286 Water Street, Augusta, ME 04333-0011, USA; arp1{at}cdc.gov

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the effect of a bridge safety fence in preventing suicide.

Methods: We examined suicides from jumping off the Memorial Bridge in Augusta, Maine, from 1 April 1960 to 31 July 2005. The safety fence was installed during 1983, the mid-point of the study period.

Results: 14 suicides from the bridge were identified; all occurred before installation of the safety fence. The number of suicides by jumping from other structures remained unchanged after installation of the fence.

Conclusion: The safety fence was effective in preventing suicides from the bridge. There was no evidence that suicidal individuals sought alternative sites for jumping.

  • ICD, International Classification of Diseases

https://doi.org/10.1136/ip.2006.013748

Statistics from Altmetric.com

    Request Permissions

    If you wish to reuse any or all of this article please use the link below which will take you to the Copyright Clearance Center’s RightsLink service. You will be able to get a quick price and instant permission to reuse the content in many different ways.

    View Full Text

    Footnotes

    • Funding: There was no external funding for this study. The work was conducted by a federal employee with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reviewed and approved the manuscript.

    • Competing interests: None.

    • As principal investigator, Dr Pelletier had full access to all the data in the study and had final responsibility for the decision to submit for publication.