Our Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) personnel have many job roles in their difficult line of work.
The most unenviable of these might just be responding to someone threatening to jump from a high ledge.
Police & SCDF Respond to Man Pacing on 38th Floor Ledge
On 12 August at around 11:25 am, the SCDF and police were alerted to one such incident at Block 21 Teban Gardens Road, in the Jurong area.
According to Shin Min Daily News, a 24-year-old man entered the stairwell landing between the 38th and 39th floors of the HDB block.
He then climbed over the railing and stood on the thin ledge outside it. Police found him standing precariously there.
An eyewitness stated that he was constantly pacing on the ledge, spiking the anxiety of the over 20 people watching the scene unfold.
The Crisis Negotiation Unit (CNU), a police unit specialising in communication-heavy incidents like attempted suicides and hostage situations, arrived to talk the man down.
When he saw them, the man began to yell loudly, taking a long while to slowly calm down.
The witness also said that the man kept a hand on the railing and was constantly looking downwards at the dizzyingly high drop. He also frequently checked his phone’s text messages and made calls.
The police had created a cordon and the SCDF deployed their safety life air pack on the ground floor beneath where the man was.
It is uncertain if the air pack could have allowed survival from a fall of that height from the 38th floor, over 110 metres up at the very least, but it was a needed last resort.
SCDF Rappel & Rescue Man on 38th Floor of Teban Gardens HDB
Around 4 pm, nearly five hours into the tense standoff, the SCDF Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (DART), which had been on the scene at the Teban Gardens HDB, had set up the necessary equipment and sprung into action for the rescue.
Two DART members rapidly rappelled down from the top floor onto the aforementioned ledge and grabbed ahold of the man. They pulled him back into the staircase landing.
Shin Min also reported the police stating that the CNU successfully talked the potential jumper back into the HDB corridor.
Police arrested the man under the Mental Health Act.
Don’t worry, they aren’t throwing him into jail. The Mental Health (Care and Treatment) Act allows for the involuntary commitment of someone to a psychiatric institution for treatment.
Nobody was injured in the incident.
The SCDF previously rescued an elderly woman the same way from a Jurong HDB flat in 2021.
Even more famously in 2023, the SCDF pulled off an impressive rescue of a woman from the ledge of a Bukit Batok block, caught on video.
There are, of course, cases where someone jumped to their deaths before the SCDF or police could stop them.
Mental health is a serious issue and if you ever find yourself needing help, you can contact the following hotlines.
- Samaritans of Singapore: 1-767 (24-hour hotline) or 9151 1767 (24-hour CareText via WhatsApp)
- Singapore Association of Mental Health: 1800 283 7019
- Emergency helpline of the Institute of Mental Health: 6389 2222 (24-hour hotline)
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