1st Reporting
Recently, I had the pleasure of chatting with Lauren, the Office Manager for the charitable team at Suicide Prevention UK. Lauren and her team face the sobering challenge of helping those in need in their most desperate and challenging hour. As you can imagine, it’s a noteworthy yet challenging endeavor that takes a team of volunteers many late nights.
Suicide Prevention UK was founded in 2018 with the purpose of reaching out to provide people with the support they need in their most trying times.
“We aim to support people struggling with their mental health, particularly those having thoughts of suicide or who have already taken steps to end their life.”
- Lauren, Suicide Prevention UK
The team consists of both in-office volunteers who take calls from across the UK and volunteers operating as an outreach team that patrols some of the known locations in the UK where people tend to go to make their attempts. Attempts The team is made up of volunteers; they receive advanced training in suicide prevention, making them highly effective.
According to the Suicide Prevention (SP-UK) website, 72% of people who complete suicide have not been in contact with any mental health services in the year leading up to the suicide. Suicide Prevention UK aims to change that. The charity was recognized in 2019 for its outstanding efforts and received the Bristol Gold Star Volunteer Award.
Understanding the Context
In our modern society, unfortunately, some feel like their world is ending, or perhaps they feel despair. Sometimes, these people are in a metaphorical state of falling, and they just can’t get up on their own. That’s where the incredible volunteers in the Suicide Prevention team are so vital. However, in order for them to be the most effective they can be, they document all of their interactions with those in need to ensure they can review a repeat service user history if one exists.
Before using the 1st Reporting app, the volunteers had to log everything manually, which was time-consuming and sometimes inconsistent. However, after using 1st Reporting to log interactions for the last three-plus years, the team of volunteers has their documentation process worked out like a finely tuned machine.
“Whenever we take a phone call from a service user or have an intervention on the streets, we report it on 1st Reporting to keep a record of all our logs. This is especially useful for our volunteers, who can look back at the logs to see the severity of previous calls, what has been signposted, and what hasn’t.”
- Lauren, Suicide Prevention UK
Lauren and the team’s report and document system enables them to look back at previous records, increasing their chances of connecting with individuals who may need repeated help. Having a mobile reporting system to manage reporting has been a critical factor in the program’s success.
Implementation of 1st Reporting
When the Suicide Prevention UK team implemented 1st Reporting for managing their in-field or office reporting, ease of implementation was a top concern. However, integration was relatively easy with 1st Reporting’s intuitive and easy-to-follow user interface.
“The advantages of 1st Reporting are its simplicity and ease of use, which is crucial for our diverse group of volunteers.”
- Lauren, Suicide Prevention UK
The last thing the team of volunteers needed was a system that was not secure or user-friendly. Similarly, the platform was required to meet the charity’s documentation needs of incidents and encounters. 1st Reporting’s customizable features and management dashboard made adoption painless for the organization.
“The charity is run purely by volunteers, some of whom are not very computer literate. The simplicity of 1st Reporting makes the recruitment and training process much easier.”
- Lauren, Suicide Prevention UK
Speaking of integration, I asked Lauren how they implemented the 1st Reporting app and how they go about training new volunteers to use it:
“We conduct an interview and a two-hour workshop where we talk about the charity’s aims and visions and introduce them to the system. We encourage them to stay for an evening to see how it works and listen in on calls. Generally, within that evening, they become quite confident with the layout and structure.”
- Lauren, Suicide Prevention UK
Exploring How SP-UK Benefits From Specific Features
I asked Lauren what features of the 1st Reporting app she felt were helpful for the charity. Obviously, the report manager, who has a customizable map view showing the locations of submitted reports, was helpful. Still, Lauren also pointed out how they used customization features like custom forms to adapt the app to their work environment:
“We’ve customized the app to our needs, and the drop-down options for recording incidents are very useful. It gives our call handlers a bit of a structure to follow, even though we’re not scripted.”
- Lauren, Suicide Prevention UK
In terms of features, the 1st Reporting app has plenty of features that make it exemplary as a strategic tool for operations. However, just some of the general functionality of the application has made it extremely valuable to their operations for speeding up response times. After all, in these crucial situations where a person’s life is on the line, time is of the essence, and response time is critical.
“It [1st Reporting] allows our volunteers to type up notes quickly, making it easier for someone else to access and provide support or call emergency services if needed. This speeds up the process of getting help to those in need.”
- Lauren, Suicide Prevention UK
Evaluating Impact
As the response time decreases and efficiency in team field intervention improves, the Suicide Prevention team’s ability to succeed in helping others improves dramatically. However, it’s not just the response time, the ease of reviewing past reports, or the customizable features that help the SP-UK team to help others successfully. Sometimes, the team needs a little help themselves. That’s where 1st Reporting comes into action.
“We’re very pleased with the support we get. Any issues or troubles are answered quickly. The team is open to our ideas and thoughts on how to improve the system.”
- Lauren, Suicide Prevention UK
Like other organizations working with 1st Reporting, SP-UK finds that the team at 1st Reporting is there when needed to help with whatever they can. The team at 1st Reporting prides itself on providing a robust, secure, and customizable reporting solution for all of its clients, from charities to municipalities to construction to security and everything in between.
“The need for our service is continuously growing, and having this system in place is essential. Everyone knows how to use it, and it’s part of us now. We can cater it to our needs as we develop and need other areas.”
- Lauren, Suicide Prevention UK
Of course, I had to ask if Lauren would recommend 1st Reporting to other charities or organizations that need a mobile reporting solution. Here’s what Lauren told me when asked:
“Yes, 100%. We’re very happy with the app and the support we receive.”
- Lauren, Suicide Prevention UK
Future Outlook
As Lauren mentioned, the team at Suicide Prevention UK knows that as their charitable services grow, the customizable nature of the 1st Reporting application will be there, ready for them to take on their following reporting challenges. If this interview has taught me anything, it’s that 1st Reporting is leading the way in providing not only customizable mobile reporting solutions but also real support when needed.
Try 1st Reporting for yourself and learn how customizable features can adapt to your business, not the other way around. Join Lauren and countless others in utilizing the best secure mobile reporting solutions, and try 1st Reporting today.
If you’d like to support the Suicide Prevention UK team’s initiatives, please visit the Suicide Prevention Bristol, Bath & Surrounding Areas website here.
Case Study Resources:
- “SPUK – Suicide Prevention UK Charity 1187866.” 2024. Spuk.org.uk. 2024. https://www.spuk.org.uk/.
- Reeves, Millie, and Olivia Rose Fox. 2019. “It’s Time to Vote for Your Bristol Gold Star 2019 Winner.” Bristol Live. November 11, 2019. https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/bristol-gold-star-awards-its-3510630.
