AI gives potential suicides pause for thought

Hotel hunt

Around 7 pm on Aug 31, Huang posted a message on the team's group chat to inform members that a young woman was planning to commit suicide in a hotel in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province.

Li Hong, a psychological counselor in Beijing who is director of the rescue team's Chengdu office, immediately organized volunteers in the city to obtain more information about the woman, who had used a pseudonym.

"The 19-year-old was at a high level of risk as she had already taken drugs and lost consciousness. She had come to Chengdu from Shenzhen (Guangdong province) as a migrant worker and was staying at a chain hotel," Li said.

The chain had seven establishments in Chengdu, so the volunteers had to identify the correct hotel by calling each one. Eventually, the reaction of a hotel staff member helped them pinpoint the location.

"One of the hotel receptionists became nervous when a volunteer mentioned the girl's real name," Li said.

She phoned the hotel herself and asked the employees to cooperate because one of their guests had taken drugs and fallen into a coma. The receptionist admitted that the woman was staying there and gave Li the number of the local police station before calling the hospital.

"I checked with the police three or four times to ensure they had taken action, because they initially said it wasn't their job to help depressed people. They valued the help when they discovered the woman had lost consciousness," Li said.

Wang Xueming, a retired teacher who is a Chengdu team member, was close to the hotel, so he rushed to help. He accompanied the woman to the hospital and helped with the admission procedures.

At the same time, Li repeatedly tried to contact the woman's parents. "We failed to get through to her father's phone, so a friend of hers visited their house at 11 pm that night. Her father arrived in Chengdu the next day," she said.

Wang frequently visited the woman in the hospital, and took her to Mount Qingcheng, a scenic spot in Sichuan, after she was discharged.

So far, all the group's rescue missions have been successful, though a couple of people subsequently committed suicide, despite appearing to be living untroubled lives, Huang said.

"Saving a single life is worthwhile," he said, adding that volunteers usually accompany survivors for a period ranging from three months to a year, based on their mental condition.