PROSPECT, Maine — In the wake of the first suicide at the Penobscot Narrows Bridge since crisis hotline phones were installed there in 2015, the question of whether the state should install fences on high bridges has come up again.
The span, linking Verona Island and Prospect over the Penobscot River, became a landmark and tourist destination when it opened to the public late 2006. Over the years, it also has drawn people in crisis, including a man in his 80s who jumped to his death Sunday afternoon.
In its decade of existence, at least seven people have jumped to their deaths from the bridge, according to previous reports. The deaths prompted state officials and mental health experts to explore the best ways of intervening.
“If you can interrupt that cycle of hopelessness, most people move forward from that crisis and reengage in their life,” said Greg Marley, clinical director at the National Association on Mental Illness of Maine. But how to intervene?
In 2015, after the sixth suicide, the Maine Department of Transportation, in collaboration with NAMI, installed a pair of phones at either end of the bridge in an effort to help a person in crisis make a phone call that might save their life. The phones connect the caller to the Statewide Crisis Hotline at (888) 568-1112.
“Picking up the receiver will connect you with a crisis worker,” the signs read. “You are not alone.”
What’s unclear is how often those phones have been used. While DOT installed and maintains the phones, there’s no system in place for that agency to determine when they are picked up and used, according to spokesman Ted Talbot. Marley said he believed the phones had been used, but didn’t know how often.
The Maine Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the hotline, says the bridge’s phones direct callers to the Aroostook Mental Health Center in Limestone, one of the state’s regional crisis service providers. But that agency doesn’t have the means to track the number of calls from specific phones, according to DHHS spokeswoman Samantha Edwards.
The problem predates the construction of the Penobscot Narrows Bridge. Multiple people also jumped to their deaths from the Waldo-Hancock Bridge prior to its demolition after it was replaced by the new structure.
The most recent death also raises the question of whether the state might reconsider an “intervention” that’s been proposed in the past — a fence along the 2,120-foot span.
In March 2014, after six suicides in seven years on the bridge, former Maine Rep. Joseph Brooks of Winterport proposed an emergency bill directing the Maine Department of Transportation to build a fence along the span to deter people from jumping.
The bill drew support from the parents of a 25-year-old Maine resident who committed suicide on the bridge a year earlier, as well as NAMI.
The Maine DOT estimated that such a fence would cost between $500,000 and $1 million to build, plus an additional $100,000 every four years to inspect.
The bill ultimately failed at the committee level, after committee members said they hadn’t had enough time to review the proposal thoroughly.
Marley said crisis phones have become more common at suicide “hot spots” across the country. While they may not be as successful in deterring attempts as fences, they can show results at a substantially lower cost.
Maine Rep. Karl Ward, who represents Prospect and Verona Island, as well other neighboring towns, said Tuesday that he plans on raising this question again with the Legislature’s transportation committee. Ward said a constituent asked him to push for a barrier.
“It’s a tragedy,” Ward said of the recent suicide.
Ward said he would meet with committee members to gauge how receptive they’d be if such a bill were brought forward again.
The preventative barrier isn’t without precedence in Maine. In 1983, a safety fence was erected on Memorial Bridge in Augusta after 14 suicides in 22 years. The bridge’s proximity to Augusta Mental Health Institute was a concern for residents and the medical community, prompting construction of the 11-foot-tall safety fence.
Marley said the fence has been a complete success. Since it was erected, there have been no suicides on Memorial Bridge.
Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in Maine, and the second leading cause of death among people between the ages of 10 and 34, according to the National Association on Mental Illness. On average, suicide claims 233 lives per year in the state.
Less than one percent of people who commit suicide in Maine do so by falling, a category that includes any jump from a high spot, not just bridges, according to Marley. With the relative rarity of bridge suicides in Maine, some might question whether the significant investments in fencing might be better spent on suicide prevention programs and support, he added.
Waldo County Sheriff Jeffrey Trafton said his deputies respond to a few calls each year at the bridge, usually made by passersby worried that someone on the bridge might be considering jumping. Most often, these people are just sightseers or sunset watchers, Trafton said. He said he’s only aware of one instance in which officers have been called to the bridge to talk someone down.
He said he supports both the crisis phone system and the concept of a barrier as a way of “interrupting their chain of action,” and giving them a chance to think through their decision.
Trafton said he understands the substantial cost associated with a fence, but “if it saves a life, a lot of people would say it’s definitely worth it,” he said.
If you or someone you know is in crisis and contemplating suicide, call the Maine Crisis Hotline at 1-888-568-1112. If you are not in Maine, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255). A trained crisis prevention worker will be available to talk and set you up with services to help. You can also chat with a crisis counselor online at www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org.
Follow Nick McCrea on Twitter at @nmccrea213.