The Columbia Protocol for Your Setting
The Columbia Lighthouse Project provides the Columbia Protocol, also known as the Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS), for use in a multitude of community and healthcare settings. These are places where individuals and teams have the access and opportunity to systematically identify risk and save lives. Examples include:
- First response agencies, such as police and fire departments
- Healthcare facilities
- Military installations
- Colleges and schools
- Correctional facilities
You do not need special permission from us to take the Columbia Protocol tools and use them in your setting, create your own unique triage next steps, or embed the Columbia Protocol in your electronic health record keeping systems (EHR). We are happy to look at any materials you develop, policies you write or screenshots of your EHR to confirm their accuracy. You can send them to us at kelly.posner@nyspi.columbia.edu.
See our C-SSRS for Research page for scales and information for researchers.
Get Resources for Your Setting
It’s easy to assemble and download a toolkit of the Columbia Protocol Scales and related documents you need to identify suicidal ideation and behavior. Modifications to the basic screener and the community card have been made to customize the triage or messaging for specific settings. The core Columbia Protocol questions do not vary. Just make the selections below to see options for your setting.