User Stories: Suicide

A mental health nurse was working a day shift when she discovered a service user had jumped off a ten-storey car park building. The nurse was frantic and required immediate help, so she activated a panic alarm to the Peoplesafe ARC.

The nurse explained the situation straight away and the Alarm Controller wasted no time in contacting the emergency services, passing over all relevant information to the dispatch team. Once the ambulance was on its way, the Controller contacted the nurse’s line managers and informed them of the situation, one of whom was then able to attend the scene and provide in-person support.

The Alarm Controller remained on the line with the user until the ambulance arrived, providing reassurance and calming the user down from her panicked state.

A mental health nurse was working with a patient when they ran outside of the building and threatened to jump into moving traffic from a bridge. The nurse required immediate assistance, so she activated an alarm to the Peoplesafe ARC. The Alarm Controller who received the alarm realised the incident was time critical, so wasted no time in contacting the emergency services and passing over all relevant information. During this time, the user stayed talking to the patient and was able to calm them down enough to come down from the ledge. The nurse still required assistance so stayed on the line with the ARC controller, who provided constant reassurance until the emergency services arrived. 

A hotel receptionist was working alone when a member of the public came into the hotel lobby and refused to leave, stating that he had taken an overdose and was planning on taking his own life. The user required backup so raised an alarm to the Peoplesafe ARC.

Once through to an Alarm Controller, the receptionist explained the situation and requested that the Controller contact their manager as another layer of support. The Controller then followed the user's request and contacted the user’s manager using the details provided on their Peoplesafe Portal profile. In the meantime, the user contacted the emergency services themselves and explained the situation. After talking to the Controller, the user’s manager came to the hotel lobby to provide in person support until the police arrived. After several minutes, the receptionist confirmed to the controller that police had arrived and that they were happy for the alarm to be closed down.

A hotel concierge was working a night shift when they received a call stating that a guest may be attempting to take their own life, so they raised an SOS alarm on their Peoplesafe device. The concierge explained the situation to the controller and that they had the guest’s name and room number. The user then asked that the Alarm Controller monitor the situation and contact the emergency services while they try and gain access to the room.

In the background, the Controller contacted an ambulance and followed the user’s escalation procedure, alerting their manager to the situation. Once the concierge gained access to the room it was apparent that the user had attempted to take their life and the user had accessed the room just in time. Once the ambulance arrived, they began treating the guest and the user confirmed that the alarm could be closed down.