Caltrain Partners with San Mateo County on Suicide Prevention Forum

On Sept. 25, Caltrain will be partnering with the County of San Mateo Health System to host the Speak Up, Save a Life: Suicide Prevention Forum in recognition of National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month. 

The forum, which will feature a panel of mental health experts and resource tables, will be held from noon to 1 p.m. inside the Oak Room of the San Mateo Main Library, 55 West 3rd Avenue, San Mateo. Other forum partners include StarVista and Behavioral Health & Recovery Services, which is part of the county’s Office of Diversity and Equity.

The keynote speaker for the forum will be Dr. Jorge Wong from the Asian Americans for Community Involvement, and the panelists include: Teresa Tantau and Alan Cochran from the San Mateo Lived Experience Academy; Narges Zohoury Dillon of StarVista; and Salvador Zuno of Caltrain’s Transit Police Bureau.

For its part, the commuter railroad will highlight its continuing efforts to address death by suicide, a complex community health issue. According the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 41,000 suicides were reported throughout the United States, making suicide the 10th leading cause of death for Americans.

For the past 20 years there has been an average of 13 deaths a year on the Caltrain right of way; the majority of these were caused by suicide. Although suicides on the Caltrain right of way make up only 3 percent of suicides in the Peninsula region, they are the focus of public attention because they impact so many people.

As a member of the community, Caltrain is committed to working with community partners to prevent suicide and lift the stigma surrounding mental health issues.

To provide another resource to the community, last year Caltrain launched a page on its website dedicated to suicide-prevention. The page features a crisis hotline number and highlights local resources for people. A list of guidelines developed by mental health professionals for the media outlining the most effective way to cover suicide also is available on the Web page.

Over the years, Caltrain has worked to address the issue of death by suicide in a variety of ways. Since 2001, suicide prevention signs have been posted along the 55-mile rail corridor with a telephone number to a crisis prevention center and the message that help is available.

Since 2009, Caltrain staff has been active participants in mental health task forces and suicide prevention activities with officials from San Mateo and Santa Clara counties and Palo Alto.

The Transit Police, comprised of San Mateo County Sheriff’s deputies, is responsible for policing Caltrain property. These highly-skilled law enforcement professionals have received specialized Crisis Intervention Training to help them recognize people who may be a threat to themselves and refer them for appropriate treatment. In 2014, transit police conducted 40 of these interventions on the Caltrain right of way. 

In 2012, a team of San Mateo County Transit District employees, who also manage Caltrain, raised nearly $12,000 to prevent suicides. The team joined more than 2,000 people in the Out of the Darkness Overnight, an 18-mile walk in San Francisco to benefit the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. The San Francisco Caltrain Station was the half-way point for the event.