GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Since 2016, Corewell Health’s Blue Envelope program has been equipping administrators and staff with the tools to respond when someone expresses thoughts of suicide.
“It’s essentially like a crisis response protocol, where everyone is trained, everyone knows how to respond, and it brings the whole team together, unifying them so we all have a common language,” said Jody Sprague, Corewell Health’s program manager for school-based suicide prevention.
It’s a difficult conversation to have, but the code words “Blue Envelope” make it a little easier.
“Those are two code words that we use internally so that we can alert our colleagues that there’s a high-priority situation going on that we want to address right now,” Sprague explained. “So instead of me saying, ‘Hey, I’m concerned about the suicidal student or the suicidal patient,’ I could just say something simple like, ‘Could you get me some resources from that blue envelope?’ And then everyone knows that that’s a priority and our team will come together and help that student or that patient.”