No parent ever thinks that their child would try to take their own life. Until one day the unthinkable has happened, and their child has committed suicide. As healthcare workers we often don’t give much thought to screening our patients for suicide risks, especially not the pediatric population. What if I told you that suicide is the second leading cause of death for ages 10-24 and that 4 out of 5 teenagers who attempted suicide gave clear warning signs. Some of these warning signs may have been noticed had we as our patients advocates used a helpful suicide screening tool on admission. The National Institute of Mental Health has a great screening tool called the ASQ, which is short for Ask Suicide-Screening Questions. This tool takes
