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Suicide data in King County
Suicide is a serious public health problem affecting people from all communities and backgrounds. Certain experiences can put people at more risk. Some people, however, are more at risk than others. The data on these pages aims to highlight which groups in King County are at greater risk and when in their lives the risk is highest.
A public health approach
Suicide prevention is complex and requires many different strategies and approaches to address root causes. Evidence-based strategies highlighted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention include:
- Strengthening economic supports
- Creating protective environments
- Improving access and delivery of suicide care
- Promoting healthy connections
- Teaching coping and problem-solving skills
- Identifying and supporting people at risk
- Lessening harms and prevent future risk
The following webpages look at data, such as emergency department visits or emergency medical services calls, to understand the bigger picture of suicide’s impact on our community. This data can help inform when and where, we as individuals, communities, and institutions, can take action to prevent suicide attempts and death.
Data dashboards
With funding support from the CDC, we’ve been able to bring together local and state datasets. This new approach can help us better understand risk and protective factors for suicide in King County.
Suicide prevention resources
The Washington State Department of Health maintains a detailed list of suicide prevention resources: Suicide Prevention
Additional and King County-specific resources
Resources for professionals and media
- Media and Safe Reporting on Suicide
- Suicide Prevention Resource for Action
- 2024 National Strategy for Suicide Prevention
- Washington State Suicide Prevention Plan
- Counseling on Access to Lethal Means training
Resources for community
Funding
This project was made possible by the U01CE003503 grant (Using Data Linkage to Understand Suicide Attempts, Self-Harm and Unintentional Drowning Deaths) from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The contents of this and the associated webpages listed above under ‘Data dashboards’ are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.