988 Lifeline adds Spanish text and chat service

The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline has added Spanish text and chat services, the Department of Health and Human Services announced July 13. The 10-digit National Suicide Prevention Lifeline completed its transition to the 988 Lifeline a year ago, allowing individuals experiencing a suicide, mental health or substance use crisis to simply call, chat or text 988 to connect with a trained crisis counselor. According to HHS, the Lifeline has answered nearly 5 million calls, texts and chats since last July, 2 million more than in the previous 12 months, including 1135% more texts, 141% more chats and 46% more calls. The Lifeline provides translation services in over 240 languages and plans to add video phone service later this year to better serve deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals.
 
For additional 988 Lifeline resources, visit www.aha.org.