Self-injury awareness for paramedics

On 1 March, people across the globe took part in the annual Self-Injury Awareness Day. Introduced around 15 years ago, its aim is to encourage people to be more open about their own self-harm, with mental health organisations making special efforts to raise awareness about self-harm and self-injury (LifeSIGNS, 2014a).

The self-injury guidance and network support charity LifeSIGNS defines self injury as: ‘any deliberate, non-suicidal behaviour that inflicts physical harm on your body and is aimed at relieving emotional distress’ (LifeSIGNS, 2014c). The majority of people who self-harm are aged between 11 and 25 years, and it is estimated that between 1 in 12 and 1 in 15 young people self-harm in the UK (Mental Health Foundation, 2014).

For the majority of people, self-injury is a coping mechanism rather than a genuine attempt at suicide (LifeSIGNS, 2014b). It is therefore not overly common for paramedics to be called out to life-threatening cases involving self-injury. However, this does not mean that paramedics should not be adequately prepared for situations where this may be the case, as the nature of their work means it is likely that they would find themselves the first point of contact for these patients.