Resources

September is Suicide Prevention Month
Contact the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline if you are experiencing mental health-related distress or are worried about a loved one who may need crisis support.

Suicide prevention starts with recognizing the warning signs of suicide and taking them seriously. Talk openly about suicidal thoughts and feelings - it can save a life. National and local mental health services, listed on the HHSC website, offer telephone, chat, text, and other resources for people who are at risk of suicide. Contact your local mental health authority (LMHA) or call 2-1-1 and ask for the LMHA in your area.

Learn important information on how to help someone who may have suicidal thoughts or feelings. Download the suicide prevention wallet card (PDF) which identifies warning signs, specific steps to help someone and resources to get help.

DSHS Injury-Related Websites

• EMS Trauma Systems - Regulates Texas Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and trauma systems in Texas. This website contains information about EMS certification and licensure, trauma designation, and more.

• Product Safety - Established to protect the health, safety, and welfare of Texans by reducing the risk of illness, injury, or death resulting from the reasonable, foreseeable, and customary handling or use of hazardous, or potentially hazardous, consumer products, including children's products.
• Texas Poison Center Network - Provides information to the citizens of Texas for poisonings or toxic exposures.
• Traumatic Brain Injury (a Health and Human Service Commission program) - Provides helpful information about Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), including links to related local and national websites.

Other Injury-Related Websites 

• American Trauma Society (ATS)
  Dedicated to the prevention of trauma and improvement of trauma care.
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
  Includes information on urgent threats, violence prevention, and injury prevention.
• Children's Safety Network (CSN)
  Provides resources to reduce injuries and violence among children and adolescents.
• Emergency Medical Services for Children (EMS-C)
  Provides state grants to improve existing emergency medical services (EMS) systems and to create and evaluate protocols for treating children. The EMS-C program is the only federal program that focuses specifically on improving the quality of children’s emergency care.
• Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS)
  Contains all vehicle crash data in the U.S. that occur on a public roadway and involve a fatality in the crash.
• Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD)
  Provides support to victims of drunk driving crimes and underage drinking prevention resources.
• National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC)
  Provides resources to reduce injury, disability, death, and costs associated with injuries outside the workplace.
• National Drowning Prevention Alliance (NDPA)
  Coordinates efforts to prevent drowning through the development and implementation of strategies to facilitate and improve education, public awareness, effective barrier codes, and greater utilization of layers of protection.
• The National EMSC Data Analysis Resource Center (NEDARC)
  Provides technical assistance to EMS agencies and EMS-C projects in developing their data capabilities.
• National Emergency Medical Services Information System (NEMSIS)
  Standardizes data collected by EMS agencies. NEMSIS is the national repository that aims to store EMS data from every state in the nation.
• National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)
  Focuses on reducing deaths, injuries, and economic losses resulting from motor vehicle crashes.
• Safe Kids Worldwide
  A global network of organizations whose mission is to prevent accidental childhood injury, a leading killer of children ages 14 and under.
• Safe States Alliance
  Aims to strengthen the ability of health departments to reduce death and disability associated with injury and violence.
• Think First
  Offers programs to educate young people about personal vulnerability and risk risk-taking. 
• Trauma Coordinators Forum (TTCF)
• Promotes and addresses the educational needs of the various facilities and institutions that provide trauma care in Texas.
• The World Health Organization (WHO)
  Strives to bring the highest level of health to all people.
• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Web-based Injury Statistics Query And Reporting System (WISQARS)
  Provides an interactive database system that provides customized reports of injury-related data.

External links to other sites are informational. and the Texas Department of State Health Services does not endorse them. These sites may also not be accessible to individuals with disabilities.