10 I The Lovell Chronicle I April 17, 2014
BY PATTI CARPENTER
A group of 27 Visual Ob-
servation Specialist (VOS)
volunteers received train-
ing to stand watch over
those contemplating sui-
cide on Saturday, April 12,
at a workshop spearheaded
by Chief of Police Nick Lew-
is. Coincidentally, four sui-
cides were attempted in the
Lovell area during the same
week, a painful reminder of
the high suicide rate in the
state and the need for pro-
grams like VOS and oth-
ers to help reduce that star-
tling statistic.
Lewis started the VOS
program about seven years
ago in response to a need
to relieve police officers of
the duty and to keep people
who are in crisis out of a jail
setting.
VOS volunteers, who
were trained at the work-
shop, are now qualified to
volunteer to take turns sit-
ting with people who are
being held either voluntari-
ly or involuntarily at North
Big Horn Hospital because
of suicide risk. Due to the
unusually high volume of
attempts, some of the new-
ly trained volunteers sat
watch within days of their
training.
Lewis opened the work-
shop stating that since it's
not a criminal act to be de-
pressed, it is his belief that
people shouldn't be treat-
ed like criminals for feeling
Zilli0"
sad or depressed. Speak-
ers from NBHH and Big
Horn Basin Counseling
also spoke at the workshop,
which as always had more
show up than were signed
up in advance.
"It's absolutely uncan-
ny and amazing to me that
more people always show
up for this workshop than
sign up," said Lewis. "It
just doesn't work out that
way at other types of work-
shops. The people who come
forward to help in this pro-
gram are very sincere and
wanting to help others."
He noted several new
volunteers joined the pro-
gram at the workshop on
Saturday and many exist-
ing volunteers returned to
renew their training.
"It's outstanding that
people donated four hours
of their time like this on a
Saturday morning, when
they could have been do-
ing an array of different
things," he said.
He noted that not a sin-
gle individual watched by
VOS volunteers has ever
committed suicide. He said
there have been a number
of suicides in the county, in-
cluding one case this week
that appears to be a suicide
but is still under investiga-
tion and another completed
suicide that took place last
year, both in Lovell.
"The ones we hear
about are actually wanting
help; unfortunately people
bent on killing themselves
don't call us for help," said
Lewis. "We want people to
know we are here to help
and want them to seek our
help."
Counselor Dorothy Bak-
er of Big Horn Basin Coun-
seling concurred stating the
fact that in the year 2010
a national study conduct-
ed by the American Foun-
dation for Suicide Preven-
tion found suicide to be the
10th leading cause of death
in the United States. The
same study found the state
of Wyoming to have the
higho t rate of all states,
with the state of Montana
not far behind. She said
the rates are higher in less
populated states and rural
states like Wyoming and
Montana. This study and
other similar studies have
found Utah, Alaska, Neva-
da, New Mexico and Idaho
to also have relatively high
rates of suicide.
Lewis said he attri-
butes those statistics in
part to a lack of mental
health services in rural ar-
eas and also to what he re-
ferred to as a "cowboy men-
tality" of not wanting to
admit something that could
be perceived as weakness.
He said impairment either
by alcohol or drugs also con-
tributes because people say
or do things when they are
impaired that they wouldn't
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do otherwise.
Vonda Southard of Ba-
sin has volunteered in the
program for six years. She
said, in her experience,
"people just need to know
someone gives a rat's back-
side and that someone cares
about them."
Volunteers Cara
Thompson and her mother
Coleen Scheeler have also
volunteered in the program
for about six years and
agreed that, in their experi-
ence, it seems to help peo-
ple to know that someone
cares.
"Everyone has a point in
life when they feel they are
at their lowest," explained
Scheeler. "That's a time
when they are reaching out
for help and it helps to know
other community members
are there for them."
Both said they found
the experience of helping
others very rewarding.
"It feels like you're giv-
ing back by helping someone
else," explained Thompson.
Another volunteer who
chose to remain anonymous
said she was actually held
in jail for contemplating
suicide at a low point in her
life. Though it was many
years ago, she still remem-
bers how difficult it was to
sit in jail with criminals
when what she really need-
ed was to feel like someone
cared. She said she volun-
teers to help keep others
from having to endure that
experience during a low
point. She said her depres-
sion has now passed and
she feels that oftentimes
the kind of depression she
experienced is temporary.
Lewis started the pro-
gram to keep people out of
that kind of setting, while
professional help is on the
way.
"The main thing people
need to know is that they
can reach out," said Lew-
is. "There is help out there;
they just need to find it.
Our program keeps them
safe while we find that help
for them."
Help can be found at
the following suicide pre-
vention hotlines: 1-800-457-
9312 or 1-800-273-8255.
Lewis noted that Big Horn
Basin Counseling has staff
on call 24-7 at 548-6543.
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