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HomeLocal & Regional NewsNew App Gives Lassen High Students Instant Access to Professional Help

New App Gives Lassen High Students Instant Access to Professional Help

A new online app, being provided to Lassen High School students this week, gives someone in crisis the ability to summon urgent help with just one ‘tap’ on their smart phone. The iCrisis app, which is being rolled out nationwide, gives instant access to a trained professional and resources to help keep the student safe.

According to Crisis Connection International, the team who developed the app, suicide rates are at a 30-year high among all ages, the tenth leading cause of death in the United States and currently the second leading cause of death among 15 to 24-year olds.

Rural counties like ours consistently have higher suicide rates than metropolitan counties, according to data from 2001 to 2005 released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

iCrisis allows the caller to contact a variety of organizations designed to help those in crisis or who are suicidal. Additionally, local behavioral health centers are listed by county. The app uses geo-targeting to find the nearest call center.

Jodi Krumm, one of the Crisis Connection International developers, explains the impetus behind creation of the life-saving app, “I have lived and worked in the Susanville area for the last 14 years. I have hurt with the rest of our community over the number of loved ones in our community, especially our young people, who we have lost to suicide.”

“When my colleagues and I began working of this app two years ago, the concept of providing faster access to local crisis professionals was foremost. We have all been touched in our lives by suicide either personally or professionally.”

Krumm said that the team explored ways to provide those resources with the technology available and chose smart phones as a platform because very few people, especially teens, are without them.

“When I shared with our team the recent loss of our young teens in the early school year we knew we had to step up and help this community.”

iCrisis is donating a license to the Lassen High School District so that local students can use the app for free.

“I have met with the Superintendent and the app is going to be introduced to the students at Lassen High School over the next coming weeks,” explained Krumm.

Notice was sent out to parents by the high school to inform them of an open meeting they can attend and ask questions regarding the app – how it works and how it will be made available on their child’s phones.

The meeting will be held in the Library at the High School this Wednesday, April 11th at 6:00p.m.

Jeremy Couso
Jeremy Couso
SusanvilleStuff.com Publisher/Editor
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