Simple things save lives

Originally developed for use by mental health clinicians and other healthcare providers, CRP can also be used by non-healthcare professionals like peer specialists, faith leaders, crisis call center staff, and other members of the community to help people in crisis until they can initiate mental health treatment.  CRP is not a replacement for formal mental health treatment; it is a brief strategy designed to reduce short-term risk for suicide, similar to how cardiopulmonary resuscitation, the Heimlich maneuver, and automated external defibrillators (AEDs) are not replacements for formal medical treatment but can help keep someone alive during a crisis.

CRP is a specific kind of safety planning-type intervention that has been shown to reduce suicide attempts by up to 76% as compared to traditional crisis management procedures, including safety planning (Bryan et al., 2024, 2017). Those same studies also showed that CRP results in faster reductions in suicidal ideation.  A recent meta-analysis of 6 published treatment studies of safety planning-type interventions (Nuij et al., 2021) found that, on average, safety planning-type interventions reduce suicide attempts by 43%. Research also shows that patients prefer CRP over commonly used safety planning methods (Lohani et al., 2024). 

To date, CRP is the only safety planning-type intervention with demonstrated efficacy for reducing suicide risk resulting from multiple randomized clinical trials, the highest level of scientific evidence for an intervention or procedure.

Negligence and malpractice liability in the case of a patient death by suicide are largely determined by foreseeability, which typically refers to the procedures used by the clinician to assess the likelihood and possibility of suicidal behavior prior to the act, and reasonable care, which typically refers to the procedures used by the clinician to reduce this risk (Berman, 2006). To address foreseeability and reasonable care, mental health clinicians are expected to:

• Screen all patients for suicide risk;
• Conduct a reasonable assessment of a patient's suicide risk level; and
• Provide appropriate interventions and treatments to mitigate this risk.

Owing to their demonstrated effectiveness for reducing suicide attempts, CRP and other safety planning-type interventions are recommended standard of care practices in mental healthcare settings for clinicians working with suicidal patients (Bryan, 2019).