Han River rescue team struggles with increased suicide attempts

Posted on : 2013-08-11 08:31 KST Modified on : 2019-10-19 20:29 KST
With onset of hot weather and tough economic times, more are attempting to end their lives
 
 firefighters and Han River Police conducted search mission
firefighters and Han River Police conducted search mission

By Park Seung-heon, staff reporter

There was no time to say hello. “Move! Move!” It was only 9am at the offices of Yeongdeungpo Water Rescue team in Seoul’s Yeongdeungpo Fire Disaster Headquarters on July 31. An alarm was ringing and a loudspeaker was telling the lifeguards to go out on a rescue mission.

“You’d better put on this life jacket first, then say hello to the reporter,” said rescue team leader Kim Geum-bak while joining three other lifeguards in a rescue boat. The rescue boat can go as fast as 90km/hour and took only 1 minute and 23 seconds to go from Yangwha bridge to Seongsan bridge. A boat that can travel over 40 knots is called swift boat, and the rescue boat was moving at 52 knots. The reporter’s notebook flapped in the powerful wind.

It didn’t take long for the rescue team to find the dead body 200m downstream from Gimpo bridge. It was a gray-haired elderly lady. The engine that had been making loud noise then stopped and the Han River was silent. Soon after, the Han River Police arrived to fetch the body. This was the beginning of the lifeguards’ day, trying to save those who are on the verge of death.

Yeongdeungpo Water Rescue team responds to accidents that take place along the Han River between Gaewha Neighborhood in Gangseo District and Banpo bridge in Seocho District. There are 15 bridges in the 22.1km area and several suicide attempts and drownings happen there each day. The rescue team handled 774 incidents last year.

The rescue team saved three people before sunrise on that day. They saved a man in his 30s who threw himself from Yangwha bridge at 3 am, as well as two other people who attempted suicide at Seogang bridge and Yangwha bridge. They also had to go out on a search mission after receiving a call from someone who lost touch with their family at the Han River.

The rescue team's prayer, which starts with "Give me strength to save some life, whatever be its age. Help me embrace a little child before it is too late. Or save an older person from the horror of that fate," is written on the wall of the rescue team’s office. Last year they saved 258 people in total from accidents and suicide attempts, preventing suicide attempts by another 185 people.

Unfortunately, the number of people who throw themselves to the river has not decreased in recent years. According to statistics from Seoul Metropolitan Fire & Disaster Headquarters, 912 people were rescued after jumping into the Han River from 2008 until last year. The trend shows that suicides and accidents take place more frequently during hot weather. Of the 912 people, 436 were rescued by the Rescue Team between June and September.

Suicide at the Han River is now more common than it used to be. The number of cases fluctuates with economic and social trends. Lee Kwang-uk, Leader of Water Rescue Team 2 said, "The number of people who make an extreme choice at the Han River increased during the Asian financial crisis of the late 1990s and the global economic crisis of recent years. The numbers has been steady since then. Most of the people who attempt suicide have financial difficulties".

According to Statistics Korea, South Korea’s suicide rate (number of suicides for every 100,000 people) increased from 24.8 in 2007 to 31.7 in 2011, higher than the OECD average of 12.5 people in 2012.

Also, of those who have ever felt suicidal, 39.5% of them were driven by economic problems.

 including a helicopter
including a helicopter

Some point to South Korean society becoming less and less communicative as a driver of the increasing suicide rate. Men’s rights activist Sung Jae-gi, leader of Man of Korea, jumped off Mapo bridge into the Han River after writing a controversial note, saying that he would risk his life in order to attract 100 million won (about US$90,000) in donations to pay off the organization’s debt. Like Sung, more people risk their lives as a means to express their intentions in extreme situations.

Seoul National Hospital director and former Korean Association for Suicide Prevention chairperson Ha Kyu-seob said, "Effective communication is not yet prevalent in our society. So people sometimes end up with risking their lives, which is inappropriate. This social environment must change."

Translated by Lee Dong-ju, Hankyoreh English Intern

 

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]

 

 

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