Chilean Metro Studies Mexico City's Suicide Prevention Strategy

Mexico City's Metro (STC) and Santiago's Metro de Chile are collaborating to share strategies for preventing suicides within their extensive transit networks. This exchange of expertise focuses on the "Salvemos Vidas" (Let's Save Lives) program, developed by the Mexico City Metro, which is being presented as a pioneering initiative in the field.

During a virtual meeting, Alhin Padilla, psychologist and representative of STC Metro's Director Adrián Rubalcava, detailed the program's accumulated experience, intervention mechanisms, institutional coordination, and support systems. The discussion highlighted the persistent issue of suicides on railway systems, a phenomenon observed for decades, and explored differences in preventive actions between the two cities' metros.

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the program Salvemos Vidas is unique in the world, there is no other Metro that has a program like Salvemos Vidas and today we are in talks with the Metro of Chile and with the Metro of Los Angeles so that they can replicate the program.

Rubalcava has previously described the "Salvemos Vidas" program as "unique in the world," noting that no other metro system has a comparable initiative. Mexico City is currently in discussions with the Santiago Metro and Los Angeles Metro to potentially replicate the program. This international interest underscores the program's perceived effectiveness in addressing a critical public health concern within urban transit environments.

Representatives from the Santiago Metro who participated included Mariela Las Heras, sub-manager of Management and Stakeholders; Claudia Hernández, Sustainability Coordinator; Francisca Giraldez, Studies and Benchmarking Coordinator; and Carla Loayza, Occupational Health Specialist. The meeting was coordinated with the Latin American Association of Metros and Subways (ALAMYS), aiming to thoroughly understand the STC Metro's model and share actions that have solidified the program as a specialized tool for supporting individuals in crisis.

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the phenomenon of suicide in railway systems, which has been recurrent for decades.