I want to tell you about a call I took Tuesday night but I really don’t know where to start.  A 50 year old man who described himself as a freak – a fat man and a man people avoid because of his handicap which is COPD.  I’m going to call him BOB although that was not his real name.  As the 911 call started out he told me that he had taken some pills and was headed to a bridge on the interstate because he was going to jump.  I was pretty sure that BOB did not want to kill himself because of the fact he called 911…he was screaming for help.  Bob said he had been to counseling many times but it didn’t help, we talked about his medications, we talked about his parents, we talked about his x wife and 18 year old who live in a far southern state, we talked about the horrible self image he had, we talked about why he thought he needed to end it all, he talked and he talked – never telling me where he was other than giving me his perceived measurement from the interstate….I went thru all of the emotions with him to get him to talk to me…to trust me – a total stranger – for a few minutes….  He was talking on his cell phone and my county and 911 center has the capability to track cell phone callers very acurately…I had an idea of the area he was in but officers were not able to find him.  I believe it was because he would hide when he saw them drive by.  Bob decided he was going to turn back and he was going to try the “life” thing again and it was about that time that a police officer located him and was able to place him in the squad car and take him to the hospital for 1) pumping his stomach in case he did, in fact, take 20 pills; and 2) hopefully to help him find some answers to his problems.  I will never meet Bob, I’m sure, and Bob will never know the impact his phone call had on me.  A 911 dispatcher must be able to stuff all thoughts and emotions deep down in their soul and keep themselves totally controlled and thinking because as far as we know, the Bob’s are very serious about their endeavor and it is my job to help Bob decide on a different disposition until someone can get to him physically.  These calls produce the most anxiety because you are not only trying to save this man’s life with your training, human emotions and trying to outwit the victim, there are a whole lot of other peoples lives hanging in the balance depending on Bob’s decisions — like the family in the car driving under the bridge should Bob decide this was it.  I am not really sure why I’m sharing this story.  Bob story and Bob’s phone call has haunted me for 2 days now, probably not really Bob, but despair…the despair that many humans are feeling right at this minute.  Thanks for changing your mind, Bob.  Thanks for helping me put life into perspective.  Thank YOU for listening….

Until next time…..