BY MARIEKE ANDRONACHE

Special to The Press

Lehigh County’s Suicide Prevention Coalition launched LOSS Team (Local Outreach to Suicide Survivors) on March 1.

To date, the program has helped 14 families cope with the aftermath of loss.

At the invitation of Lehigh County commissioners, Human Services Administrator Josh Bridges highlighted the goals of the LOSS Team on June 26 at the board’s meeting.

Bridges oversees Mental Health, Intellectual Disabilities, Early Intervention Services, and Drug and Alcohol for the county.

Bridges explained the LOSS Team.

“That service is provided to individuals after they’ve experienced a death in their family of suicide,” Bridges said. “Trained teams reach out to that family and provide immediate support and resources.

“They are trained volunteers on an “on-call” rotation.”

Since the Suicide-Crisis Intervention Lifeline 988 launched on Aug. 16, 2022, the county has yet to have its own call center.

Calls are diverted to other centers in the state.

Bridges confirmed this will change sometime in August or September when the Lehigh County center will open.

Bridges pointed out the county provides housing to 256 individuals seeking treatment, with another nine beds about to open.

As they are not part of being treated in state hospitals, they are getting care within the community, Bridges said.

These initiatives are available to anyone without health care, and whose treatment is not covered by providers.