[Suicide prevention: role and efficacy of telephone assistance services].

This paper deals with the effectiveness of emergency telephonic help services in suicide prevention; it gives an historical account, describes the activity of Geneva's "Main Tendue" and proposes some practical principles on emergency telephonic help. 41 calls of 35 callers of Geneva's telephonic help service are briefly analyzed. A review of the literature available on this subject leaves a pessimistic impression about effectiveness of such services.