A Lack Of Timely And Accurate Data Is Hampering Efforts To Prevent Veteran Suicide

Nico Correa's service in the Army included two combat tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan. He left the military in 2015 after 15 years.

"I tell people I'm 39, but I feel 59 inside," Correa said. "[Because of] the wear and tear, mentally."

As a combat veteran, Correa said he knows the anguish that former service members go through. For many, coming home doesn't bring an end to those struggles.

"I was lost in the sauce," he said. "I didn't know what route to take, which direction."

Correa tells the story of one of his buddies - someone he served with - who died by suicide. His friend's wife also took her own life.

"And they had a son, and now his son's alone," Correa said. "We had to find his grandparents. It was bizarre."

Correa now works as a stuntman and actor. He also offers grassroots support to fellow veterans with a Southern California group he started a few years ago called PTSD Armor.

But he and other advocates have a problem: the data on veteran suicides often comes years after the fact and is incomplete.

The holes in the data have led several states and counties around the country to try to get a better understanding of the number of veterans who are lost to suicide and the individuals behind the numbers.

The state of Montana and Suffolk County, New York are among the government agencies that have created systems to better track veteran suicides. Now, Los Angeles County is hoping to develop a similar system, which would be among the largest in the country.

"Really the intent is to provide data more real-time with additional information that can be used within the community," said Roberto Álvarez, special assistant for military and veterans affairs for L.A. County Supervisor Kathryn Barger.

He's looking at the feasibility of creating a veteran suicide review team. This fall, the supervisors voted to study how such a team might work.

"It stems from the fact that the data that's published for veteran suicide within L.A. County comes from the state," Álvarez said. That data comes about two years after the fact, with no way to break it down.

A study of all L.A. County suicide deaths during the past five years found nearly 6% could be confirmed as veterans. That's in a county where veterans make up about 3% of the larger population. Sharon Birman, chief of suicide prevention at the West L.A. VA Medical Center, presented the data at a virtual conference this fall.

"That's really scary; that's compelling data," Birman said. "That says ... we need to pay attention to this vulnerable population."

NICO CORREA

What's more, it's possible that veteran suicide deaths were undercounted in the study, because researchers were unable to determine whether some people who died by suicide were veterans.

Birman said part of the idea behind the review team would be to create a data sharing agreement between the coroner's office and the VA. Together they would generate more up-to-date information through a monthly review of veteran suicides in the county.

And Birman said the review would dig deeper, "to take more of a proactive approach and understanding what are the risk factors in every single suicide. What happened? Understanding the story behind the suicide."

The hope is that this more granular data will better guide the efforts of county and nonprofit agencies.

In the meantime, Nico Correa is offering his support group to fellow veterans who need somebody to talk with.

"We could do Skype or Zoom, whatever it is, because the veteran crisis line, it's one thing. But there's got to be more than just the veteran crisis line," Correa said.

With the isolation and mental health concerns that have come with the pandemic, Correa says keeping up those connections with people who understand the veteran experience is more important than ever.