Franklin General hosts suicide awareness walk for Suicide Prevention and Awareness Month in September

A throng of Franklin General Hospital employees on Thursday stepped together for a cause close to many hearts.
The hospital on Thursday hosted a Suicide Awareness and Prevention Walk where dozens of employees walked around the facility grounds. The walk was in conjunction with September’s dedication as Suicide Awareness and Prevention Month.
Jill Kreimeyer, Senior Life Solutions Specialist with Franklin General Hospital, said the walk was important to her department and hospital employees as a whole because of suicide’s wide-reaching impact. By bringing awareness to the fact that suicide is a major issue in all parts of the country, Kreimeyer said people both realize the impact of suicide and become familiar with the resources available to those in need.
“Creating awareness, discussion and conversation in the community is only going to help educate people,” she said. “Suicide is one of those conversations people do not like to have. It tends to be the elephant in the room.
“By doing stuff like this, hopefully it allows people to talk more about it,” she added.
Kreimeyer said that suicide is most prevalent in individuals between the ages of 15 and 24 years old and those over 60 years old. While suicide is often a topic that brings hesitation, she said it’s important to acknowledge it because it is the 10th leading cause of death in the United States. Therefore, virtually everyone has been impacted by suicide in some way.
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