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Mohave County suicide mortality review highlights firearms as leading means; county expands QPR and CALM trainings
Summary
The county’s suicide mortality review for 2023 found firearms were the most common means and identified training, lethal‑means counseling and community outreach as top prevention recommendations; Mohave County public‑health staff said they are offering QPR and CALM trainings and launched a firearm‑hygiene campaign.
Jessica Willard, community health education specialist, presented the Mohave County suicide mortality review process and 2023 findings under the state’s SMR framework created after SB 15 23 (referred to in the presentation as “Jake’s Law”). She explained the review is confidential and statutory authorities designate which deaths are reviewed and how records are handled: “All information and records remain completely confidential…they are not subject to subpoena discovery or introduction into evidence,” she said.
Willard summarized county data for 2023 and the SMR‑team’s prevention recommendations. She said in Mohave County suicides were “overwhelmingly male,” with over 80 percent of cases male, and that firearms were the leading means: roughly 70 percent of suicides involved a firearm; hanging and strangulation accounted for about 11 percent; poisoning and overdose comprised another portion of cases.
The review identified repeated system‑level prevention recommendations across four categories: health care, criminal justice, crisis response and community. Among the most frequently cited were increasing training for health‑care staff to screen and treat depression, increasing gatekeeper training for community members, and reducing access to lethal means for people at acute risk. Willard said reducing access to lethal means was identified 49 times in the team’s prevention discussions and that decreasing stigma and increasing help‑seeking were called out frequently.
Willard described local follow‑up activities: Mohave County is offering QPR (Question‑Persuade‑Refer) and CALM (Counseling on Access to Lethal Means) trainings free to the public and has obtained grant funding for a firearm‑hygiene (safe‑storage) campaign. “The focus of our behavioral health program currently is to be able to go into those spaces where, normally, public health isn't typically considered welcome,” she said, describing outreach at a recent gun show.
Ending: The board received the report for information; staff said they will continue training and outreach and report back on implementation.
