LAHARPE — Barely a month after the Federal Communications Commission approved a new three-digit suicide prevention hotline, LaHarpe Telephone Co. became one of the first providers in the area to offer the 988 service to its customers.
Callers will be put in direct touch with the National Suicide Prevention and Mental Health Crisis Hotline, explained Harry Lee Jr., LaHarpe Telephone president. Special assistance also is available through the network for military veterans.
The aim is to make 988 as ubiquitous as 911, he said.
“It’s important that everybody be aware of the fact that this capability is out there, and is easily available,” he said. “We don’t have to remember some long number. Just as we know to dial 911, hopefully people will know, in a mental health crisis, to dial 988.”
The process to implement the number will take two years. Telecom and voice service companies will be mandated to have a 988 hotline by July 16, 2022. (A quick test with cell phones from two separate local carriers, and a call from an Iola telephone line indicated the service is not yet available for those customers. Until then, callers still can dial 1-800-273-8255).
In their unanimous vote July 16, FCC commissioners pointed to the strains facing Americans today, from grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic and related economic shutdown, as well as the cause and effects of nationwide protests focused on strained race relations.
“Establishing the easy-to-remember 988 as the ‘911’ for suicide prevention and mental health services will make it easier for Americans in crisis to access the help they need,” FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said at the time. “And when more Americans receive these services, we know that more lives will be saved. Additionally, this achievement, and all the efforts to publicize 988 in the time to come, will reduce the stigma in our society surrounding suicide and mental illness.”
AS AN ASIDE, there are other three-digit hotlines still available for callers across the state.
Those who dial 411 can get directory assistance; 511 provides Kansas highway travel information; 711 accesses services for hearing or visual impaired callers; and 811 is the “Dig Safe” hotline for those seeking to locate utilities in areas where they will be digging or doing other ground work.
