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Up to 30% more volunteers needed to help those in distress

SINGAPORE — Each day, they take about 120 calls from those harbouring thoughts of killing themselves or are facing some sort of crisis.

The SOS helpline is one of the few in Singapore that provides around-the-clock assistance to those in crisis. TODAY FILE PHOTO

The SOS helpline is one of the few in Singapore that provides around-the-clock assistance to those in crisis. TODAY FILE PHOTO

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SINGAPORE — Each day, they take about 120 calls from those harbouring thoughts of killing themselves or are facing some sort of crisis.

But the Samaritans of Singapore (SOS), arguably the most well-known suicide prevention centre in Singapore, fears there are many more individuals out there who may not be getting the proverbial listening ear they desperately need at that precise moment.

The reason: A shortage of volunteers to man its 24-hour helpline.

“As we are a crisis and suicide prevention hotline, callers might be in immediate danger or distress. We are concerned that callers may not receive the support needed at the critical moment if the lines are busy and they cannot get through,” said SOS executive director Christine Wong.

Over the past few years, the voluntary welfare organisation’s pool of volunteers to man their helpline has hovered at about 200 to 220, with those joining barely replacing those who have to leave for various reasons. While she thinks she needs 300 volunteers, Ms Wong said she would be happy with 250.

The SOS helpline is one of the few in Singapore that provides around-the-clock help to those in crisis. Others include those by the Care Corner Counselling Centre, which provides assistance in Mandarin, and ComCare, which provides help for those who need financial assistance.

With the manpower she is working with — on average, about 15 volunteers take care of each 24-hour cycle — SOS can take a maximum of only 120 calls a day, or 42,000 per year. At any one time, SOS can put only two to three volunteers by the helpline. Latest figures from the birth and death registry of the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority showed that there were 422 suicide cases in 2013.

To attend to the voluminous calls, SOS requires volunteers to commit to a three- to four-hour shift every week, in addition to one night shift lasting 10 hours once a month. Recruiting volunteers has been an arduous task over the past few years, said Ms Wong. On top of that, attrition rate is about 15 to 20 per cent every year, for reasons such as relocating overseas, or a change in family or work demands, she added.

The crunch has hit the night shifts particularly hard.

“The last few years have been really challenging. People are finding it difficult to do the night duties because the feedback is that jobs are more demanding now. If they do the night duty and they go back to work, they feel that they can’t cope with their job demands,” said Ms Wong. “We do have an attrition rate and we must ensure that we keep on recruiting so that we can keep the lines going,” she said.

But the problem is the SOS helpline gets up to three times more calls at night, as many callers find this is the only time they are able to step away from their family and colleagues to make the call. SOS has also observed more calls that cannot get through at night, added Ms Wong.

“Every day is a challenge, because there are slots that are empty and every day we have to try to appeal to the volunteers by calling them one by one,” said Ms Wong.

But overcoming the recruitment problem is some challenge, since the job scope as an SOS helpline volunteer is unlike other volunteering stints.

Said Ms Wong: “It definitely is (harder for us to get volunteers). The commitment, the work that we are doing is very different — different from visiting a children’s centre and playing with the children.”

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