Editing Crisis hotline (section)

==History==
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 | footer    = As a [[suicide prevention]] initiative, these signs on the [[Golden Gate Bridge]] promote a special telephone that connects to a crisis hotline, as well as a 24/7 crisis text line.
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[[File:Lifelinelogo.svg|thumb|upright=1.2|A poster for the [[988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline]] (under its former name, the [[National Suicide Prevention Lifeline]]), a crisis line in the United States and Canada]]
Such services began in 1953, when [[Chad Varah]], an English vicar, founded [[Samaritans (charity)|The Samaritans]] service, which soon established branches throughout the United Kingdom. The first Samaritans branch in the United States was established in Boston in 1974.<ref>[http://www.samaritanshope.org/who.html Samaritanshope.org] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081003030320/http://www.samaritanshope.org/who.html |date=October 3, 2008}}</ref> 

Crisis and Suicide Hotline started in Seattle, WA in 1964 run by Crisis Connections, formerly Crisis Clinic after the assault of a 12-year old girl by a letter carrier. <ref>https://www.crisisconnections.org/about/</ref>
In addition to Boston, there are currently Samaritan branches in [[Falmouth, Massachusetts]] (serving the [[Cape Cod#Region of Cape Cod and the Islands|Cape Cod and Islands]] area),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.capesamaritans.org/ |title=Capesamaritans.org |publisher=Capesamaritans.org |date=September 24, 2011 |access-date=November 20, 2011}}</ref> the [[Merrimack Valley]],<ref>[http://www.familyserviceinc.com/Program_files/Samaritans.htm Familyserviceinc.com] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080926164854/http://www.familyserviceinc.com/Program_files/Samaritans.htm |date=September 26, 2008}}</ref> and the [[Fall River, Massachusetts|Fall River]]/[[New Bedford, Massachusetts|New Bedford]] area.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.samaritans-fallriver.org/ |title=Samaritans-fallriver.org |publisher=Samaritans-fallriver.org |date=August 26, 2011 |access-date=November 20, 2011}}</ref> Outside of Massachusetts, there are branches in New York City,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.samaritansnyc.org/ |title=Samaritansnyc.org |publisher=Samaritansnyc.org |access-date=November 20, 2011}}</ref> [[Providence, Rhode Island|Providence]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.samaritansri.org/ |title=Samaritansri.org |publisher=Samaritansri.org |access-date=November 20, 2011}}</ref> [[Hartford, Connecticut|Hartford]],<ref>[http://www.suicidology.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=63 Suicidology.org] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070708101635/http://www.suicidology.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=63 |date=July 8, 2007}}</ref> [[Albany, New York|Albany]],<ref>[http://www.orgsites.com/ny/samaritans-albany/ Orgsites.com] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090127032444/http://www.orgsites.com/ny/samaritans-albany/ |date=January 27, 2009}}</ref> and [[Keene, New Hampshire|Keene]], [[New Hampshire]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.volunteersolutions.org/volunteer-nh/org/645839.html |title=Volunteersolutions.org |publisher=Volunteersolutions.org |date=January 20, 2011 |access-date=November 20, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090304004229/http://www.volunteersolutions.org/volunteer-nh/org/645839.html |archive-date=March 4, 2009 |df=mdy-all }}</ref>

In the United States, the Los Angeles Suicide Prevention Center was founded in 1958 and was the first in the country to provide a 24-hour [[suicide prevention]] crisis line and use community volunteers in providing hotline service.<ref name=crisis>{{cite book|title=Brief History of Suicide Prevention in the United States |date=September 2012|url=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK109918/|publisher=[[National Center for Biotechnology Information]], [[U.S. National Library of Medicine]]|access-date=10 May 2015}}</ref> [[Bernard Mayes]] started the San Francisco Suicide Prevention with a hotline named "Call Bruce" in 1962.<ref name="suicide-prevention">{{Cite news |last=Whiting |first=Sam |date=2012-04-28 |title=Bernard Mayes to be honored as lifeline to the suicidal |work=[[San Francisco Chronicle]] |url=http://www.sfgate.com/living/article/Bernard-Mayes-to-be-honored-as-lifeline-to-3516576.php |access-date=2014-10-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231016215026/http://www.sfgate.com/living/article/Bernard-Mayes-to-be-honored-as-lifeline-to-3516576.php |archive-date=16 October 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-10-25 |title=About Us |url=https://www.sfsuicide.org/about/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231019210605/https://www.sfsuicide.org/about/ |archive-date=19 October 2023 |access-date=2023-10-25 |publisher=San Francisco Suicide Prevention}}</ref> A similar service, [[Lifeline (crisis support service)|Lifeline]], was established in Australia in 1963.

Another service, the volunteer-run crisis [[helpline]] Lifelink Samaritans Tas. Inc, originally called Launceston Lifelink, was established in 1968 by concerned citizens of [[Launceston, Tasmania]], who decided to create a phone service based on the principles of The Samaritans. The rationale was that people often become suicidal because they cannot discuss their emotional pain with family and friends.

This service provides emotional support 24 hours a day to people throughout Tasmania and does not have any religious affiliations. The organization is a member of [[Befrienders Worldwide]] and has a "twinning" relationship with [[Northampton]] Samaritans in the UK. Lifelink Samaritans is the oldest telephone befriending service in Tasmania and the fourth oldest in Australia and receives at least 5,000 calls a year. In December 2018 Lifelink Samaritans celebrated 50 years of service.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.examiner.com.au/story/5629387/lifelink-support-just-a-phone-call-away-organisation-celebrates-50-years/ |title=Capesamaritans.org |publisher=The Examiner|last= Willard|first= Jessica |date=September 8, 2018 |access-date=September 22, 2022}}</ref>