Coroner’s office reports rise in suicides; task force expands outreach and media campaign

Brianna Riegel, first deputy at the Lebanon County coroner’s office, presented final 2024 case numbers to the Lebanon County Commissioners on Thursday and described a rise in suicide deaths and expanded suicide-prevention efforts.

Riegel said the coroner’s office recorded 30 suicide deaths in 2024, an increase of 10 from the prior year. Of those 30 suicides, the office recorded 19 by gunshot, seven by hanging, three that were drug related and one by carbon monoxide poisoning. The office reported one homicide last year. Total coroner cases were 345, an increase of five; natural deaths were 277 (up 15); accidental deaths numbered 37 (down 13); and drug-related deaths were 19 (down 14). Cremation authorizations totaled 781, a decrease of two from the prior year.

Riegel said the Suicide Prevention Task Force has expanded local outreach. The task force is running a media campaign that includes social media, radio public service announcements, streaming-audio ads on Pandora and Spotify, and a three-month bus promotion focused on crisis intervention in September. The task force also holds hybrid meetings on the fourth Tuesday of each month and is planning a Mental Health Awareness Month festival on Saturday, May 10, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the CSG parking lot/railhead on Eighth Street. Riegel provided a contact number for more information: (717) 274-3415.

When asked about age and gender patterns, Riegel said the average age for suicides in 2024 was 48.8 years and that deaths were predominantly male (26 males, 4 females).

Commissioners asked whether the task force had a funding gap; Riegel said fundraising has produced more than $20,000 for suicide-prevention efforts and the task force did not have an immediate gap. Commissioners accepted the coroner’s annual report for the record by motion and voice vote.