That was how Mohd Sani Harul, the Assistant Director of Operations at the Selangor Fire and Rescue Department, summed up the role he and his men play in saving people bent on ending their lives.
The department handles two to four suicide cases a month. In 2015, it rescued 43 people. So far this year, it has saved 36 lives.
“Usually, we are alerted to suicide situations when members of the public see someone standing on the ledge of a building,” Sani told FMT.
Within 10 minutes, the department’s first responders will be at the scene to stop the suicide. This is something every firemen is trained for.
“We are trained to try to defuse the situation by listening to the person and trying to understand why he is trying to jump. We try to calm him down and persuade him to step down from the ledge.”
Sani said firemen would also answer requests from such an individual, such as giving a drink or a cigarette, while trying to get information from him or her about themselves and the people close to them so that they could locate loved ones for help in dissuading them from jumping.
“Sometimes, it takes hours to save a person. Our first option is to always dissuade them.”
If the person is intent on jumping, however, the firemen would have no choice but to step in and one of them would grab him, putting his own life on the line as well. He would be secured by a safety harness held by his colleagues.
“The biggest risk in doing this is that the harness might slip,” said Sani. “But this type of risk is part of a fireman’s job.”
According to Sani, there has been no such untoward incident in the five years that he has served the department.
“Thankfully, we have managed to save every suicidal person’s life we have been called upon to save,” he said.
Sani urged members of the public to call the department if they see anyone on the verge of committing suicide.
According to a news report last month, the Malaysian Mental Health Association expressed its concern over rising suicide rates among urbanites.