A local suicide prevention center has an unusual strategy it believe will help decrease the number of suicides.
N-C-C reporter, Racquel Stephen, tells us more about the strategy.
Racquel Stephen:
“Freeze the Keys” is a new initiative by Contact Community Services of East Syracuse that will help gun-owners think twice.
Crisis Intervention Director, Cheryl Giarrusso, says the center will be partnering with S-U’s engineering program to tackle what they consider the most dire form of suicide.
Cheryl Giarrusso:
” The most lethal means (of suicide) are firearms…we are not saying you can’t own firearms, we’re saying be safe with your firearms.”
Stephen:
The new initiative calls for gun-owners to put the keys to their gun safes in a container of water, and in the freezer.
Giarrusso:
“Just that few minutes that it takes to unfreeze those keys… can be enough to save a person’s life.”
Stephen:
For more information on how to get a container call Contact Community Services at threeone-five-two-five-one-one-four-zero-zero.
Racquel Stephen …, N-C-C News.
SYRACUSE, NY (NCC NEWS) – Contact Community Services is the flagship center for suicide prevention and mental health resources for Onondaga County.
Most recently the organization partnered with Syracuse University engineering program to create a strategy that they believe will significantly reduce the number of suicide attempts.
The center’s Crisis Intervention Director, Cheryl Giarrusso, is calling the initiative “Freeze the Keys”.
This strategy will call for gun-owners to place the keys to their gun safes in a container of water and in the freezer.
“Just that few minutes that it takes to unfreeze those keys can be enough to save a person’s life,” says Giarrusso who also acknowledges that men are more likely than women to use firearms to complete an attempt, which makes “Freeze the Keys” top priority for the organization.
The new strategy is still a work in progress, but CCS has information readily available for those interested in learning more about these containers.
Please call Contact Community Services at (315) 251-1400.
