Inpatient Suicide Prevention: A Review of the Patient Safety Authority’s Keys to Ligature Risk Assessment Project

Abstract

It takes less than five minutes and 18 inches from the ground for a person to self-asphyxiate from hanging.1 According to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP), suicide is currently the 10th leading cause of death in the United States and 11th in Pennsylvania.2 Of those deaths, hanging from a ligature point is the most common method of suicide in inpatient healthcare facilities. It should be no surprise that the plethora of ligature points in hospitals is a major patient safety concern. For these reasons, the Patient Safety Authority (PSA) launched a project in July 2018 with the aim to assist Pennsylvania facilities in identifying and mitigating ligature risks.