Note the significant use of cell phones in this incident...


Yosemite National Park (CA)
Crisis Negotiator Successfully Intervenes In Suicide Attempt

Park dispatch received a call on the evening of September 9th from a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, regarding an at-risk student. The 31-year-old man had been in cell phone contact with UC Berkeley Health Services throughout the afternoon and had reported that he was on top of a mountain and intended to kill himself. He did not provide a specific location, but, based on conversations in the past, the professor presumed that the student was on top of Half Dome. Rangers stationed in Little Yosemite Valley were directed to the top of Half Dome to attempt to locate the man. Special Response Team members, including ranger and crisis negotiator Rob Lewis, were also dispatched. While responders were en route, a hiker stopped one of the rangers to let him know about a friend of his who was threatening suicide on top of Half Dome. A telephone interview was conducted with the hiker, and Lewis used the information obtained to conduct a crisis negotiation with the man via text message. After a lengthy text message exchange, he called 911, said that he was okay, and asked for help. By this time rangers were arriving on the summit of Half Dome and they were able to secure and hold him while waiting for additional responders to assist in getting him safely down the cables. The man was escorted out of the backcountry, transported to an area medical facility, and held for evaluation. Statements he made during the hike out indicate that Lewis' text messages had caused him to change his mind about jumping. After interviewing the man, a doctor at the medical facility said that he was surprised that he hadn't jumped.
[Submitted by Kevin Killian, Deputy Chief Ranger]