Suicide Mortality Review Committee (SMRC) – Preventing Deaths by Suicide
When an adult dies by suicide, a Suicide Mortality Review Committee (SMRC) reviews the chain of events that led to the death and uncovers opportunities for suicide prevention.
When a preventable death occurs, the loss is both profound and shared by all in the community. Each year, more than 49,000 adults die by suicide in the US, which calls us to expand and improve efforts that can prevent suicide deaths.
Suicide Mortality Review Committees (SMRC) lead communities to identify and take steps to reduce suicide attempts and deaths. Some SMRCs focus their reviews on groups who are at greater risk of dying by suicide, such as military service members, veterans, and their families.
The reasons for any individual death by suicide are numerous and complex, so a consistent approach to reviewing these deaths is needed to uncover patterns. To support better data analysis and suicide prevention, the National Center has developed the first US national database for Suicide Mortality Review Committees. In the months and years ahead, we will support states in establishing SMRCs and support SMRCs in cultivating, growing, and sharing their expertise.
While deaths by suicide can affect any community, this work is especially focused on understanding and averting preventable deaths that affect military families, service members, and veterans.
How it works
A Suicide Mortality Review Committee (SMRC) is a community-driven process that allows local, state, and tribal fatality review teams to uncover lessons from deaths by suicide. Local, state, tribal, and federal review teams systematically review the chain of events leading to a suicide, enter confidential information into the National Center’s database, and use the data system to generate, summarize, and share insights to promote suicide prevention.
How we help
The National Center supports local, state, tribal, and federal efforts to establish and enhance SMRCs. To do this:
- We developed the first national US data system for compiling, analyzing, and learning from cases of death by suicide. This system will ensure that information on deaths by suicide is robust, reliable, and available to guide suicide prevention efforts.
- We help states set up Suicide Mortality Review Committees and develop their capacity to use the case reporting system. We’re here for “help desk” support as suicide fatality review teams get started or learn the latest methods for data analysis, data visualization, and effective dissemination of public health findings.
- Reviewing preventable suicide deaths is important, but it can be difficult work. The National Center equips teams to build healing, supportive habits into their process, so they can buffer negative impacts and sustain their work.