StandBy Response Service

The StandBy Response Service is a community based program that provides a 24 hour coordinated crisis response to assist families, friends and associates who have been bereaved through suicide. The service uses a community and evidence-based model which was developed from the latest theories in trauma, loss, grief and suicide bereavement.

In many cases people bereaved by suicide do not know where to turn for help or how to find support that may already exist. The StandBy Response Service provides a reliable, single point of contact coordinating existing services to enable an immediate response.

StandBy was developed by Queensland human resources company, United Synergies Limited, in 2002 in response to a number of suicides in the Noosa hinterland region and the inability of the community to collectively respond.

Aims

The aim of the StandBy Response Service is to reduce potential adverse health outcomes and assist in addressing further suicidal behaviour. The service achieves this by providing an integrated and comprehensive response using existing emergency and community support mechanisms. Active participation and cooperation of a wide range of agencies such as police, ambulance, coronial services and community groups, results in bereaved people accessing the right support, at the right time and in the right place.

'StandBy’s experience indicates that support is more effective when available and delivered from within the local community especially where cultural needs exist,’ says national StandBy coordinator Jill Fisher, ‘to ensure local support is culturally appropriate StandBy works closely with mainstream services to fully meet all community needs.’

Locations

StandBy currently operates in four communities around Australia in conjunction with local community partners. These locations are:

• Cairns 
• Canberra
• North Brisbane
• Sunshine & Cooloola Coasts

Plans are underway to expand the service into the Kimberley and Pilbara regions of Western Australia and into Tasmania by mid 2009.

About the Cairns program manager

Dulcie Bird is the program manager of StandBy in Cairns, one of four locations where the service operates. She is a founding member of the Dr. Edward Koch Foundation, which was formed in 1995, and has worked in the suicide prevention sector for thirteen years. Bird never expected to work in this field but became involved in a hands-on capacity and is now a qualified counsellor. One of her proudest achievements is helping create a suicide bereavement workshop that began in response to Cyclone Larry in 2005 and 2006.

Challenges

Dulcie Bird says many of the challenges encountered in Cairns relate to StandBy’s philosophy to never turn people away. She recalls a traumatic time for a small town in remote Queensland, when there had been two suicide deaths in less than a week and StandBy was asked to come and support the community.

‘The town is nine hours drive from Cairns and well outside our area of funding,' Bird recalls. 'There were two deaths in one very small community. This shattered the community and they asked for our help. How could we say no, even though it was out of our area?’

Four StandBy Crisis Response Team members arrived in the town and 12 individual interventions were provided after a town meeting. Bird cites funding and geographic coverage as the two other areas of concern.

‘We are hoping that the project will expand all around Australia,' she says. 'That’s the dream of probably all of the coordinators and program managers of StandBy.’

Partners

The four locations of the StandBy Response Service have different partnerships with local organisations. Partners in Cairns include: 

• Emergency services 
• Health services (including Mental Health)
• Funeral services
• Indigenous groups
• Education services
• Local councils 
• Bereavement support groups

‘We have over 400 organisations and agencies on our organisational database and they have all come forward to offer the services they have on hand,' says Dulcie Bird. 

Lessons learnt

• Many people know someone who has died by suicide. 
• There is still stigma attached to suicide but people are becoming more open and  understanding.

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