Preventing suicide by jumping: the effect of a bridge safety fence
Open accessAbstract
Objective: To evaluate the effect of a bridge safety fence in preventing suicide. Methods: We examined suicides from jumping off the Memorial Bridge in Augusta, Maine, from 1 April 1960 to 31 July 2005. The safety fence was installed during 1983, the mid-point of the study period. Results: 14 suicides from the bridge were identified; all occurred before installation of the safety fence. The number of suicides by jumping from other structures remained unchanged after installation of the fence. Conclusion: The safety fence was effective in preventing suicides from the bridge. There was no evidence that suicidal individuals sought alternative sites for jumping.
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The construction of barriers and fencing at high-risk jumping sites, especially bridges, can lead to a reduction in the number of suicides by this method.
“A range of studies have demonstrated that the construction of barriers and fencing at high-risk jumping sites, especially bridges, can lead to a reduction in the number of suicides by this method (Beautrais 2001;Bennewith 2007;Pelletier 2007;Pirkis 2013;Pirkis 2015).”
From Means restriction for the prevention of suicide by jumping (2020) · cites this paper as Pelletier 2007
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Means restriction for the prevention of suicide by jumping
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Installation of a bridge barrier as a suicide prevention strategy in Montreal, Quebec, Canada
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Effect of restricting access to a suicide jumping site
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Preventing suicide at suicide hotspots: a case study from Australia
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- Authors
- Pelletier, A. R.
- Affiliations
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (US)
- Corresponding author
- Pelletier, Andrew R
- Venue
- Injury Prevention
- Publisher
- BMJ
- Published
- 2007-02
- Volume
- 13
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 57-59
- ISSN
- 1353-8047 (ISSN-L)
- 1475-5785
- PMC
- PMC2610560
- OpenAlex
- W2125087645
- Cited by
- 58
- References
- 10
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 3 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 1 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 2 · 2013: 5 · 2012: 3
- FWCI
- 4.71
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Injury Prevention (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
- U.S. Department of Transportation
- Maine Department of Transportation
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Suicide and Self-Harm Studies
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Injury Epidemiology and Prevention
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Homicide, Infanticide, and Child Abuse
- Keywords
- suicide prevention, memorial bridges, Augusta, Maine, fence installation
- MeSH terms
- Accidental Falls, Architectural Accessibility, Humans, Maine, Suicide, Attempted, Safety Management
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