Vet Says Veterans' Suicide Line Repeatedly Put Him on Hold
It’s been nearly a year since last year’s audit detailing just how dire things are for veterans in need of medical attention , and apparently, not all that much has changed. According to veteran Ted Koran, he recently called the VA’s Suicide hotline only to be be put on Hold for up to ten minutes at a time—multiple times.
As Koran told ABC News, he suffered an emotional breakdown this past Saturday night after losing his wife to cancer six months ago. Finding himself on the brink of suicide, the Air Force vet decided to reach out to the VA, which responded to his call with a soothing refrain of try again later. From ABC’s report:
The U.S. Air Force veteran first called the James Haley VA Center in Tampa, where a recording gave him the 800 number to the hotline. Koran said he was placed on Hold for 10 minutes.
“I had to sit there patiently, in emotional distress, in tears, wanting to give up, desperately needing someone to talk to,” Koran said.
Koran said he hung up and redialed the number two more times.
“They had me on the [verge] of saying to hell with it,” he said.
Koran’s not alone. According to last year’s audit , over 57,000 vets had been forced to wait three months or more for medical care. Thousands more were never able to schedule appointments at all.
Even more recently, a Scripps investigation just this past February found that many vets calling for help either were either sent to voicemail or received no answer at all. Which is probably to be expected when a mere 52 operators are tasked with handling thousands of calls a day.
According to the VA’s own estimates, roughly 22 veterans commit Suicide every day.
