New 988 Suicide 7 Crisis Line

Columbia County Combined Communications Center 911

988 Launched Nationwide This Past Weekend. Here’s What You Need to Know

Lake City, Fla., – On July 16, the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (formerly known as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline) transitioned from its previous ten-digit phone number to the 988

dialing code.

What is 988?

988 is a 3-digit dialing code for the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (Lifeline), where

compassionate, accessible care and support is available for anyone experiencing

mental health-related distress — whether that is thoughts of suicide, mental health or

substance use crisis, or any other kind of emotional distress. People in crisis can call

or text 988, or use the webchat available at 988lifeline.org.

The goals for the Lifeline are to:

• Provide immediate, confidential counseling to someone in distress;

• De-escalate suicidal or distressed thoughts; and

• Connect people with local resources, when appropriate.

Who answers 988 calls?

The Lifeline is a network of 200+ independent crisis centers across the US and

territories. These centers are staffed by trained crisis counselors who are supervised

during every shift by a licensed mental-health professional. They adhere to evidence based protocols to de-escalate feelings of crisis. There are also national back-up centers, Spanish language centers, and centers answering chats and texts.

How will 988 and 9-1-1 work together?

In rare but critical circumstances — less than 2% of the time — counselors will

determine via their protocols that someone is at imminent risk of harming themselves

or someone else. In these situations, the Lifeline will contact 9-1-1 to dispatch

emergency services. 988 is not able to directly transfer a call to 9-1-1. Because of that, the Lifeline counselor must relay the information to the 9-1-1 dispatcher.