Mental health specialists made an urgent call to the Dominican authorities to establish a unified national protocol to efficiently manage suicide crises. The proposal was presented during the launch of the H-G Hichez-Guerrero Guide, a technical document that seeks to standardize everything from the initial intervention by emergency agencies to long-term specialized treatment.<\/p>\n\n
Psychiatrist H\u00e9ctor Guerrero Heredia emphasized that the country currently lacks an organized framework for action to coordinate the various institutions in the event of a suicide attempt. According to the specialist, this tool should have been implemented decades ago to ensure a coherent and professional response.<\/p>\n\n
It is a protocol that should have existed here, perhaps 20 years ago, but it is now that we are doing it.<\/p>H\u00e9ctor Guerrero Heredia, psychiatrist<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n
A comprehensive care pathway<\/h3>\n\n
The proposal presented by the experts details a clear roadmap for relief agencies and the healthcare system. The fundamental steps include:<\/p>\n\n\n
- Immediate intervention by the National Police or the 9-1-1 System.<\/li>
- Safe transport by ambulance to hospital centers.<\/li>
- Reception protocol in emergency areas.<\/li>
- Mandatory referral to Psychiatry units.<\/li>
- Continuous follow-up by teams of psychologists and psychiatrists.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n
Guerrero Heredia emphasized that prevention should not be limited to the moment of crisis, but rather requires early identification of mental health problems, especially in the youth population. In this sense, he urged families to be alert to significant behavioral changes and not to minimize warning signs.<\/p>\n\n
The challenge of records and public policies<\/h3>\n\n
For her part, psychiatrist Alexandra Hichez stressed that the absence of precise and uniform data on suicide cases hinders the creation of effective public policies. The specialist pointed out that many attempts are not properly recorded, and sometimes, subsequent deaths from complications derived from a failed attempt are not correctly counted as deaths by suicide.<\/p>\n\n
Hichez also highlighted gender disparities in this phenomenon: while women have a higher incidence of attempts, men record a higher rate of fatal outcomes. For experts, understanding these dynamics is essential to design support mechanisms that are truly functional.<\/p>\n\n
Collective action for prevention<\/h3>\n\n
The H-G Hichez-Guerrero Guide, presented within the framework of World Suicide Prevention Day, proposes a joint working model that involves the State, the health system, educational institutions, the media, and civil society. The technical document is available to the general public via a QR code, facilitating access to this vital information for prevention and crisis management.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Experts urge standardizing national protocols for suicide crisis care in the Dominican Republic Mental health specialists made an urgent call to the Dominican authorities to establish a unified national protocol to efficiently manage suicide crises. The proposal was presented during the launch of the H-G Hichez-Guerrero Guide, a technical document that seeks to standardize everything […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":157753,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12809],"tags":[4987,5115,14231,285],"class_list":{"0":"post-157752","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-national","8":"tag-mental-health","9":"tag-prevention","10":"tag-protocol","11":"tag-suicide"},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157752","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=157752"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157752\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/157753"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=157752"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=157752"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alofokedeportes.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=157752"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}