Sign up to receive ESSENCE Alerts
People who work with teens and young adults in Tennessee have a new tool for responding to increased suicide-related behavior among youth in their area. They can sign up for ESSENCE alerts issued by the Tennessee Department of Health (TDH) for real-time data on high levels of suicide-related emergency department visits in their county.
TDH is using the Electronic Surveillance System for the Early Notification of Community-Based Epidemics, or ESSENCE, to monitor weekly trends in suicidal behavior among people aged 24 and under. The Department has also developed rapid prevention response plans to help target prevention efforts in areas seeing increases in suicide-related behavior in near real-time. TDH developed these plans in collaboration with TSPN, the Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, and other agencies.
Each week, TDH’s Suicide Prevention Program will review reports on how many people under the age of 24 visited a local emergency department for suicidal ideation or injuries related to self-harm or suicide attempts. If a county reports an above-average number of suicide-related visits, this will trigger an ESSENCE alert which will go out to anyone signed up to receive the announcements. Anyone who gets these alerts should take appropriate steps to promote suicide prevention and crisis resources within their schools, community centers, clinics, churches, and other agencies they serve.
To sign up for local ESSENCE alerts, visit the ESSENCE alert information page on the TSPN website here.
The page features an electronic sign-up form and further information about ESSENCE and what people can do when an alert goes out. We are also working with TDH on expanding the ESSENCE system into other age groups; if you or your organization are interested in taking part in this expansion process, email mleitsch@tspn.org.
