I used to be a hotline volunteer as well and this sounds similar to what the place I volunteered at was like. Mostly it was just a lack of volunteers on certain shifts and, when a bunch of calls came in to our local line (we had a local and the national line), we had to try and get those as well. Now, for instance, if the person I am talking to is obviously and immediately in danger I will stay with them. However, if they are maybe just needing somebody to talk to for a bit, I'll try and put them on hold quickly, switch over to the other call, attempt to assess it really quickly and put the new caller on hold.
It is a really terrible feeling when you see that call on Line 2 disappear after 10 seconds, I know that feeling. It's not that we have any less care for the person, it's just a result of constraints.
All we can do is try our best to make even the smallest difference in the caller's life with what we had. Unfortunately, during the time I volunteered, what we had wasn't enough.
Babadiboo8 karma
I used to be a hotline volunteer as well and this sounds similar to what the place I volunteered at was like. Mostly it was just a lack of volunteers on certain shifts and, when a bunch of calls came in to our local line (we had a local and the national line), we had to try and get those as well. Now, for instance, if the person I am talking to is obviously and immediately in danger I will stay with them. However, if they are maybe just needing somebody to talk to for a bit, I'll try and put them on hold quickly, switch over to the other call, attempt to assess it really quickly and put the new caller on hold.
It is a really terrible feeling when you see that call on Line 2 disappear after 10 seconds, I know that feeling. It's not that we have any less care for the person, it's just a result of constraints.
All we can do is try our best to make even the smallest difference in the caller's life with what we had. Unfortunately, during the time I volunteered, what we had wasn't enough.
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