988

In Wyoming, there’s already some guardrails in place to limit involving law enforcement without a caller’s consent.

For the past two years, two Wyoming call centers have been servicing all calls to the 988 suicide hot line coming from a 307 area code. Now, those who text with a 307 number will also get a response from someone in Wyoming. Beforehand texts were going to national call centers.

Last summer, the nation got a new three-digit suicide prevention number: 988. A new analysis found the in-state answer rates so far vary widely, especially in the Mountain West.

Wyoming leads the nation for suicide deaths per capita. A bill hopes to address that fact and is slowly moving through the legislature. It would permanently establish the 988 Suicide and Crisis Line in Wyoming, establish quality standards and potentially provide some kind of funding.

In July, the nation got a new three-digit suicide prevention number – 988. A new analysis found the hotline’s call volume jumped 45% in August compared to August 2021, with the number of callers roughly doubling in two states in the Mountain West.