Guidelines to assist in responding to attempted suicide or suicide by ...

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Do not provide details ofthe method of suicide orattempted suicide.Informing students of a suicideFriends closest to the studentIdeally, these students will have been spoken to individually, or in smallgroups, by a counsellor or a mental health professional. Depending on theirresponses arrangements should be made for them to be collected by theirparents. No students affected by the news should be allowed to leave the schoolunaccompanied.Students in the same year levelA modified statement should be provided to students in the same year level inrecognition of their closer association with the student; their anticipated desirefor more information; and a different need for support.Students in the same class as a siblingThis group will need to be given additional assistance in understanding how tosupport their classmate once they return to school. It may be appropriate to havethe counsellor or mental health professional speak to this group as well as theclass teacher.School communityThe school community should be informed as soon as possible via a statementprepared by the IMT (see Section G). This is an important way to supportthose staff for whom the task of informing students is stressful. It also ensuresthat accurate and consistent information is provided to students as a way ofcountering the rumours and misinformation that inevitably arise in any crisis.This first statement should also promote the important notion of studentslooking out for each other.The issue of naming the student is particularly sensitive and should not usuallybe disclosed to the whole school community. Do not provide details of themethod of suicide or attempted suicide.Home or pastoral groups, class groups or year level groups are the preferredenvironments in which to inform students. Whole school assemblies are notrecommended because student reactions are more difficult to manage and it isharder to support individuals.20Section B: First 24 hours
Schools should seekadvice from theirregional office if theyare unsure abouttheir communicationresponsibilities.Informing students of an attempted suicideInformation that a particular student has attempted suicide is consideredhealth information, and the use and disclosure of this information is governedby the Health Records Act 2001 and the Health Privacy Principles (HPPs)contained within it.Before disclosing such sensitive health information, it is important to take intoaccount the wishes of the student, the wishes of his or her parents/guardians(if appropriate in the circumstances), your duty of care to take reasonable stepsto prevent reasonably foreseeable injury to the individual student, and yourobligations under the Act and the HPPs.If a departmental employee determines that in the individual circumstances, itmay be appropriate to inform students of an attempted suicide, he or she shouldobtain further advice and assistance from the region and central office prior todoing so.If the school is informed of an attempted suicide that took place away from theschool or the attempt occurred without other students being aware, there is asmall possibility that the spread of information may be contained. If completecontainment of information is a real possibility it should be discussed withthe family as soon as possible. In such circumstances any communicationwith staff, students and parents will be on a “need to know” basis only. Thestudent, the mental health professional, the family and the school representativemust determine who will be included in a “need to know” group. The majorconsideration in this exercise is how many individuals need to be informed inorder to keep the student safe and supported in the school environment.Complete containment is likely to be a very rare situation and the IMT will needto have a secondary plan to follow if information about the suicide attemptbegins to circulate across the school community.If details of the attempted suicide are already known in the school populationthen all the advice that follows regarding communication within the schoolcommunity should be carefully considered. Schools should seek advicefrom their regional office if they are unsure about their communicationresponsibilities.Guidelines to assist in responding to attempted suicide or suicide by a student21
Page 1: Guidelines to assist in respondingt
Page 4 and 5: IntroductionDealing with the tragic
Page 6 and 7: Privacy: Personal and health inform
Page 8 and 9: A: Immediate responseif the attempt
Page 10 and 11: The loss of a young life is alwayst
Page 12 and 13: B: In the first 24 Hourscontact the
Page 14 and 15: The school’s response,recovery an
Page 18 and 19: The availability of instantsocial n
Page 20 and 21: C: In the first 48-72 HoursSchool l
Page 22 and 23: Coroners Court of Victoria: Family
Page 24 and 25: Monitor studentsIn the first 24 hou
Page 26 and 27: Protecting a deceased student’s b
Page 28 and 29: D: In the first monthSchool leaders
Page 31 and 32: Section E: Suicide cluster
Page 34 and 35: F: In the longer termcontinue to mo
Page 36 and 37: School staff cannot take solerespon
Page 38 and 39: G: Sample documentsletters for pare
Page 40 and 41: Information to assist staff in talk
Page 42 and 43: Parent letter: for use following th
Page 44 and 45: Parent letter attachment No. 2Where
Page 46 and 47: Section H: DefinitionsAttempted sui
Page 48 and 49: Appendicies
Page 50 and 51: Short term: Student focused safety
Page 52 and 53: Restoring wellbeing of parents and
Page 54 and 55: Restoring wellbeing in the schoolco
Page 57: Appendix E: Operationaldebrief refl
Page 60 and 61: Phase 2 - Intervention/postvention:
Page 62: ensure the school returns to its re

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