Go to her straight. Cut to the problem and try your best to give her a realistic view on things. Here is your cliche to work from - "This would have been a permanent solution to a temporary problem." Yeah, the cops were definitely dicks, but I think the more important thing right now is to focus on her mentality and her actions, not that of the cops. You need to find out whether she really was suicidal or if she was just trying to get attention. Both causes are deadly and she needs help. What worries me about her actions is that you and your family were in the house, and she still just called him about her overdose. I am not condoning the cops' actions, however I am suggesting that she may have done this in an effort to gain attention/affection from her ex. Why did she call him after she attempted to overdose? Why didn't she come to you or her parents for help? There are a lot of factors and until you can determine whether she really has given up on life, or whether this was a desperate attempt to gain sympathy from the ex or win him back needs to be determined. I DO NOT mean to sound harsh right now. I truly want you to understand that. Realistically, your sister needs help in one way or another. You need to get on her level, and talk to her about it. Don't chastise her, don't make her feel guilty, just try and start with a normal conversation. Talk about similar experiences you may have had with breakups (hopefully minus the suicide attempt) and give her realistic feedback. She is clearly lost and pulling at threads to do something like this, so she needs someone to show her the way through her darkest time. My sister saved my life once. I was in a similar situation....I had more than just a breakup though. Maybe there are other things bothering her, but considering the information you gave here, it seems like she just couldn't handle losing him. A little more background can help too. How old is she, how long were they together, is there ANY other reason she might want to end her life? I hate sounding like an asshat here, but teens tend to do this shit a lot when they think something like a breakup means the end of their world. They don't realise the reality of their actions and, very unfortunately, a lot of them succeed in the suicide. She needs your understanding and support, but she also needs to know that this is the wrong way to reach out to people. The cops reacted poorly, no doubt, but after bagging up enough teenage suicide victims, you would be a little harsh on someone who wanted to just die because their relationship ended. I wish you and your sister the best, and I hope you are able to get through to her. Please understand I am simply trying to be unbiased and give you real advice based on experience. I am an ME assistant, and have seen enough to realize the importance of making sure she knows she is loves, understood, and that her life shouldn't be wasted. Sorry if I rambled, but I feel like a lot of people would have a more level headed reaction to this if they had actual experience in what the families, officers, etc. really have to deal with when they have to experience this.