Sick! A suicide hotline that uses voice mail

There are few things that annoy or frustrate us more than being placed on hold by an automated message.

The recorded voice message system sounds something like this:

"Thank you for waiting. Your call is important to us. I'm sorry, but all of our operators are busy at the moment, but please stay on the line. Your call will be answered shortly."

What happens if there's an emergency situation that must be addressed right away? Unfortunately, it has already been happening to veterans, some of whom suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder and other hidden injuries.

That's tragic when you consider that every day, 22 veterans and one active duty soldier take their own lives. The estimated total of over 8,000 annually accounts for about one-fifth of all suicides in this nation.

A report by Department of Veterans Affairs last month showed that a suicide hotline allowed crisis calls to go into voice mail, thus denying callers any chance of receiving immediate assistance. It also said calls to the suicide hotline have increased dramatically in recent years, with more veterans from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the aging Vietnam-era veterans seeking help.

We recently learned that Thomas Young, an Illinois veteran with severe PTSD from the Iraq War, was struck and killed last July by a train outside of Chicago, leaving behind a wife and two daughters. What's disgusting is that he reportedly tried to go to a VA hospital for help with a drinking problem but was turned away since there wasn't any space available.

Someone also determined he wasn't suicidal, although he had a history. He had previously tried to kill himself by passing out on train tracks, but someone always carried him off the tracks before he was hit. When he tried to go back to the VA for help, he was put on a wait list.

In his last attempt to reach out, Young had called the VA suicide hotline on July 22 or 23 but no one picked up. The next day he decided to end his life. A day later, the VA's emergency line returned his call, but the veteran was no longer with us.

This is just the latest black mark for the beleaguered VA, which has been dealing with issues ranging from patient care problems to widespread mismanagement within its facilities.

Last year, CBS News did a story on Special Forces veteran Johnny Primo, who was horrified to see a suicide note on his Instagram account from a veteran who lived just a few miles away. Desperate to help, Primo tracked down his address but he arrived 45 minutes too late.

Primo said it was a wrenching feeling to know that there was a chance he could have prevented the suicide.

A VA spokeswoman said the agency is working to modernize the crisis line to better serve veterans. That includes hiring more staff to man the crisis hotline and upgrading to state-of-the art phone systems.

With lives at stake, it's about time this is given priority.

The number of veterans and their families reaching out to the Veterans Crisis Line will continue to grow. What they should at least expect is to be addressed by a comforting human voice, not some recording that places them on hold or passes them off to a voice mail.

By JIM ZBICK | tneditor@tnonline.com