Coroners Association leader pledges to help, not block suicide review efforts

The Missoulian

Greg Kirkwood, the new president of the Coroners Association of Montana, has voiced support for a research effort to understand and reduce the state’s high suicide rate. In 2013, Governor Steve Bullock appointed a seven-person team to review every suicide in the state this year in order to plan effective prevention programs. However, the team has had difficulty collecting essential data from the state’s coroners, as it explained in a progress report at the 2014 Montana Conference on Suicide Prevention last month. Terry Bullis, executive secretary for the Montana Coroners Association, noted that only half of the state’s coroners are law enforcement officials, while the rest are civilians who may be challenged to find time for more paperwork. Some have also expressed concerns for families’ privacy, though state law protects the confidentiality of all records reviewed by the team. Kirkwood plans to bring the matter to the association’s board of directors meeting this fall to generate solutions.