1,250 Florida Veterans called VA suicide hotline in six months

VA Gets 55,000 Plus Suicide Calls
A Suicide Hotline Is Turning Into A Life Line For Veterans In Crisis.

July 28, 2008


(CBS) CBS News investigative producer Pia Malbran wrote this story for CBSNews.com.


More than 55,000 people - including about 22,000 who identified themselves as veterans - have called the Department of Veterans Affairs’ suicide hotline during its first year in operation and CBS News has learned that many of the calls, in recent months, have come from the mid to south central part of the country.

According to the VA’s own count, during a three month time period between March and May of this year, the regions where the highest number of calls originated include the states of Texas, Tennessee, Illinois and Florida among other surrounding areas. (California and Florida have the nation's largest veteran populations.)

Other data, obtained by CBS News, shows that during the first six months of the hotline’s operation, the state of Texas had more callers than any other state with 2,102 out of 21,439 calls. California came in second with 2,088 calls, then Florida (1,250 calls) and Massachusetts (1,051 calls.)
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http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/07/28/cbsnews_investigates/main4300661.shtml