C-SSRS Screener (Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale)

Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale Screener (Posner 2011, Columbia Lighthouse ED Triage banding).

Open the calculator → Runs in your browser. Data leaves only if you deliberately send a problem report from the interactive tool.

Example

Q1: wish to be dead
No
Q2: thoughts of killing yourself
No
Q3: thought about how
No
Q4: some intention of acting
No
Q5: plan and intent
No
Q6: any suicidal behavior
No
Q6a: behavior within the past 3 months
No

Result: C-SSRS Screener: no risk reported. No suicide risk reported on the C-SSRS Screener at this contact; rescreen per local protocol if status changes. Banding per Columbia Lighthouse Project ED Triage Screener of Posner 2011.

The tool opens with these values already filled in. Replace them with your own.

What the result means

no risk reported
No suicide risk on the C-SSRS Screener at this contact; rescreen per local protocol.
low risk
Wish to be dead or non-specific active ideation. Behavioral health follow-up; share 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.
moderate risk
Active ideation with methods (no plan/intent), OR lifetime behavior not in the past 3 months. Behavioral health evaluation; safety planning before discharge; restrict access to lethal means.
high risk
Active ideation with intent or plan, OR suicidal behavior in the past 3 months. Behavioral health / psychiatry evaluation now; consider 1:1 observation; restrict access to lethal means.

What you enter

  • Q1: wish to be dead (past month)
  • Q2: thoughts of killing yourself (past month)
  • Q3: thought about how (methods, no plan)
  • Q4: some intention of acting
  • Q5: plan and intent
  • Q6: any suicidal behavior (lifetime)
  • Q6a: behavior within the past 3 months
How this is calculated

Posner K, Brown GK, Stanley B, et al. The Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale: initial validity and internal consistency findings from three multisite studies with adolescents and adults. Am J Psychiatry. 2011;168(12):1266-1277. Read the source ↗

A reference and educational tool. Not medical, legal, or financial advice, and not a substitute for clinician judgment.

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Built by Clay Good. Source on GitHub.