As suicide loss survivors, we humbly stand on the shoulders of mental health professionals, and with Sentinel have combined the proven theories of suicide prevention with our personal lessons and hands-on experiences.

After the firearm suicide death of her 14 year old son, and later of his veteran father, Kathleen Gilligan set out to learn, and to teach others, about mental health and suicide. A short documentary about Kathleen’s son, Palmer Burk, is used extensively to open up conversations about suicide amongst families and health care workers. Kathleen was also instrumental in working with Washington State Department of Fish & Wildlife to add a suicide prevention module to the Hunter’s Education class. Kathleen has also volunteered extensively with veterans as the Parent Representative for the Washington State Safer Homes, Suicide Aware Coalition. Safer Homes runs an outreach program, in which we bring our suicide education booth to gun shows in Washington State, offering free education and locking devices. This is where Kathleen has had profound experiences with veterans, and what led to the idea for Sentinel.

She recalls veterans who would wait in line to talk with her and other volunteers - veterans who became teary eyed, thanking her for being willing to talk about suicide. A particularly poignant interaction occurred in 2019, when a middle-aged veteran was obviously distressed, and kept walking back and front past the Safer Homes booth. Kathleen asked him if he wanted to discuss anything, and he suddenly changed demeanor, breaking down and blurting out that his father had recently taken his life. This veteran had been literally bursting with grief, and had also falsely believed that suicide was not preventable. Eventually, this veteran walked away from the interaction with newfound knowledge about how putting time and distance (ie safe storage of firearms) can prevent a suicide, and he was eager to share what he had learned with other veteran friends.

It was at that moment that Kathleen wished she had even more to offer him - something such as the Sentinel app and compatible firearms locking devices. Kathleen has experienced this again and again - that the Sentinel app embraces the proven concepts of the 3-Step Theory of suicide, with the additional benefit of safe storage of firearms.