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VA Launches New PSA on Suicide Prevention for Veterans WASHINGTON – The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is reaching out to Veterans in crisis and their families in a new public service announcement to raise awareness about suicide prevention resources, such as the Veterans Crisis Line at 1-800-273-TALK (8255). “As more Veterans return from Iraq and Afghanistan, the critical need for mental health care is rising,” said Sonja V. Batten, assistant deputy chief patient care services officer for mental health. “VA is increasing its efforts to reach out to Veterans in need and their families, to inform them about available services and programs.” The new television spot encourages Veterans in crisis to call the crisis hotline number at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) and then push 1 on their telephone keypad to reach a trained VA mental health professional who can assist the Veteran 24 hours a day, seven days a week. “Suicide is preventable,” said Batten. “Every Veteran suicide is tragic and regardless of the numbers or rates, one Veteran suicide is too many. We feel the responsibility to continue to spread the word throughout the nation that suicide prevention is everyone’s business.” So far, more than 379,000 people have called the hotline, and more than 200,000 of these callers have identified themselves as Veterans, family members or friends of Veterans. The hotline has led to more than 13,000 rescues of actively suicidal Veterans. The hotline also operates an online Veterans Chat program, which provides Veterans, their families and friends with the ability to communicate anonymously online in real-time with a trained VA mental health professional. Veterans Chat can be accessed through the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline’s web page at http://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/Veterans/Defaultx. Through the hotline and Veterans Chat, VA can connect Veterans and their families with important services, including suicide prevention coordinators, as well as general inpatient and outpatient psychiatric services at VA medical centers and community-based outpatient clinics. The hotline, which is part of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, was started in 2007 as a partnership between VA and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). The PSA can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/user/VeteransHealthAdmin#p/u/1/PPL7CAHixQE. —————– MilitaryConnection.com thanks you for your patronage. This web site is a portal of all things military. There is something for everyone including a new job board, listing all types of jobs for military including military jobs, government jobs, veteran jobs, diversity jobs and civilian jobs,. We also feature education for military resources such as information on the newly improved GI Bill, listings of military schools in the military school directory, an expansive scholarship directory and additional education benefits that will aid you in continuing your education. If you need a personal loan, MilitaryConnection.com provides information on military loans and reputable companies that handle them. We are constantly adding resources, content and valuable features to benefit our audience. This has resulted in the web site quickly becoming the “go to” web site for all things military. Our web site and all of the resources are free to users and we value your input. If you belong to a group or organization, we will post your press releases, special events, newsletters, professional conferences and seminars, reunions, job fairs, and videos to help spread the word. MilitaryConnection.com has a multitude of employment and educational resources including a Directory of over 30,000 Employers, Job Tips, Columns written by top Job Coaches, our new and improved Job Board, Virtual Job Fair, jobs for military and military spouses, military jobs, government jobs, veteran jobs, diversity jobs, civilian jobs and much more. You will find military education resources information on the GI Bill, military schools, a military school directory, a scholarship directory and information on current educational benefits. We also feature military loan information. When the next tour is back home, it’s on MilitaryConnection.com.
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