Concerns raised about hotlines

Have you ever called one of the crisis hotlines?
That was a question posed during the three Your Voice MOV forums held last month on the opioid crisis.

The forums were held in Parkersburg, Belpre and Marietta as a mechanism to bring together professionals from the medical community, legal circles and journalists, with those actually affected by the drug epidemic ripping apart families and leaving significant fallout.

Some concern was expressed that when calling the hotlines, it takes too long to reach a real person, or that the person is only available as a referral resource.

The Marietta Times decided to try it out and walk through what questions are asked on the other end of the phone, and what advice is offered.

When both the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline and the United Way 211 numbers were called after 6 p.m. Wednesday, the same woman was on the other side of the line.

“National Suicide Center Prevention Lifeline, this is Rose,” she answered on the first call, after 56 seconds of music and recordings telling the caller to “please stay on the line.”

As a crisis line responder Rose only gave her first name during both calls. She said she cannot reveal her physical location but said her answering service, Pathways of Central Ohio, serves Licking, Knox, Perry, Morgan and Washington counties.

Then, when 211 was dialed with a landline, the call did not go through.

View Full Article