A registered nurse for 15 years, Rhonda Haiston is not a stranger to advocating for people’s physical and mental health.
Almost 10 years ago, Haiston turned to a group of people who needed more voices behind them.
These were people who had jumped off the Coronado Bridge.
The Coronado Bridge, by and large, has been a topic of conversation.
Second most used bridge for suicides
Whether it’s long-time locals lamenting the days when there wasn’t a bridge – resulting in less traffic on the island – or the subject of a darker conversation, one about suicide.
It’s been in operation since 1969, and since then, it’s seen more than 400 deaths.
More than a third of those deaths have been in the last 10 years, with statistics showing 150 jumpers since 2013, according to a Port of San Diego Harbor Police report.
Five deaths in 2023
Halfway through the year, five deaths have come from jumpers off the Coronado Bridge.
Haiston, a local Coronado resident, has been involved with the Coronado Bridge and its fatalities since November 2014.
Haiston is the founder of the Coronado San Diego Bridge Collaborative for Suicide Prevention.
The Collaborative aims to bring awareness to this issue with statistics and history on their website and a phone number for the crisis line while advocating for the installation of the suicide prevention system.
“I had friends in Coronado that had witnessed this happening four or five times…I’ve known people that jumped off the bridge,” Haiston said.
Haiston is a frequent face at the CALTRANS meetings, helping spread the news of the extension of the suicide prevention system on her social media account.
911 calls to rescue jumpers
Wayne Strickland, a retired Captain of the Coronado Fire Department, has seen too many 911 calls in an attempt to rescue the jumpers.
“The Harbor Police in those years would bring [jumpers] to the boat ramp after…and our ambulance crew tried CPR to bring them back,” Strickland said to The Coronado News.
In his 33 years of working for the fire department, Strickland received around half a dozen calls during his shifts for moments like those.
“I have friends that I knew that jumped. We’ve now made a difference and CALTRANS is listening,” Strickland said.
Prevention system began in 2017
CALTRANS started its operation for a suicide prevention system in 2017 by conducting a feasibility study, according to its Public Review Meeting held in February 2022.
The Final Environmental Document was finished by summer 2022 before going into the design and construction for the system.
According to the CALTRANS advisory committee meeting on March 1, CALTRANS is currently awaiting to identify funding for the 2027 construction start date.
Military deaths
Meanwhile, in 2019, 15% of all deaths by suicide in California were former members of the military, according to the California Department of Public Health (CDPH).
Veterans make up 7.9% of the entire population of the United States, while making up 13.5% of all suicides in the country, as reported from the National Veteran Suicide Prevention.
This statistic holds true for the population of California as well, with an overall state percentage of 7.3% military personnel in California.
As a hub for multiple military bases, San Diego is right in line with these statistics, with almost 8% of San Diego’s population made up of military personnel and family members.
With a total of 429 suicides in San Diego County for 2019, 95 of them were veteran deaths, according to the CDPH’s report.
That made veterans 22% of all suicides in San Diego in 2019.
However, California Highway Patrol Officer Jesse Mattias couldn’t confirm the occupations of the deaths from the Coronado Bridge specifically.
Plans for bridge net
Due to the rate of suicides from the Bridge, CALTRANS installed a deterrence system in 2019, but that didn’t stop the deaths from continuing.
In 2022, CALTRANS held a public meeting to discuss a new deterrent – one that would stop the deaths completely.
It would be a vertical 8 to 10-foot-tall stainless-steel net on the perimeter of both sides of the bridge.
This prevention system had a finish year of 2027, however, CALTRANS has extended its completion date by two years, set to finish in 2029.
“CALTRANS is doing everything they can,” Haiston said.
