Should I try to intervene in a stranger's suicide? Or should I leave it to professionals who may take a few minutes to get there? If I should intervene, how? Is there training available for successful suicide intervention? I live near a pair of very tall bridges that are common suicide spots. (Rainbow and Veteran's Memorial Bridges, for those of you familiar with the area.) Saturday night, on the way home from a friend's house, I saw what I thought was a woman trying to physically restrain a man from jumping. One other time, I have seen a man that was out of his car and looking over the edge. Both times, I called 911 and reported what I saw, but I didn't stop. If I had any idea of what I would do, I would have stopped and tried to intervene. Has anyone ever been trained in this? I'd like to know what to do for next time (if there is one). This board has a lot of varied experiences, so I was hoping someone would be familiar with this.
Calling 911 is a good idea......getting out of your car is a bad idea, the whole thing may be a ploy to get you out of year car. DD
You definitely did the right thing, calling a professional to the scene is the best thing to do. They are trained to handle these type of situations and the consequences, good or bad.
as much as we all want to help, I also think you did the right thing calling professionals. If someone is desperate (or under chemical influences) enough to jump they may be desperate enough to take you with them. I'm not sure about the first scenario. I told myself a long time ago that if I ever saw a woman or child being assualted I would try to intervene (I'm not a particularly big or strong man) but thought that would be worth the risk vs living with knowing I did nothing. But it doesn't sound like that was the case. 911 sounds like the right response.
