A rail worker from Scotland has helped save a man’s life after noticing a suicidal message on the company’s social media account.
Megan Moore, 28, was at work when a concerning late-night message appeared on ScotRail’s Whatsapp from an unknown man.
The external relations assistant from North Lanarkshire, who works within the rail operator’s communications team, immediately understood the severity of the situation and knew the man was in crisis as she'd dealt with a similar situation in the past.
Ms. Moore, who has worked for ScotRail since 2018, described how her training from mental health group Samaritans helped her deal with the incident calmly and appropriately.
“With the person contacting us through WhatsApp, I knew I had to say the right thing straight away or it could have made the situation worse,” Ms Moore said. “It was really concerning to receive a message from someone in distress.”
She knew she was up “against the clock.”
The company monitors every incoming message it receives on social media and WhatsApp. However, Ms. Moore believes this message stood out from others it’s received.
After attempting to contact the man, she identified the station he was at, swiftly alerted the main control center, and then coordinated with staff on location to help organize an immediate rescue effort—helping them locate the man and bring him to safety.
Her response to the incident has since earned Ms. Moore a nomination for the RailStaff Award “Samaritans Lifesaver.”
“It truly was a team effort with the station staff, CCTV, and control team,” Ms. Moore said. “A positive outcome couldn’t have been achieved without the help of my colleagues.”
She admitted it wasn’t a pleasant experience, especially as she didn’t have a lot of information and relied heavily on her gut feeling.
Although the situation had the best possible outcome, Ms. Moore was emotional afterward.
“An experience like that can stay with you for a long time,” she said. “I’m lucky to work in a great team who checked up on me throughout the remainder of my shift.”
ScotRail safeguarding manager Nick McGuirk has praised Ms. Moore for the role she played.
“Megan remained calm throughout, even though she was confronted with the additional challenge of not being able to see what was unfolding,“ he said. ”Megan applied her training from the Samaritans Managing Suicidal Contacts and her actions without doubt saved the [man’s] life.”
Since the event, Ms. Moore has been a vocal advocate for Samaritan’s training and urges others to take their courses.
“Samaritans training is something I would encourage everyone who gets the chance to attend, regardless of where you work,” Ms. Moore said. “Their training really makes you think, and helps to focus on asking open-ended questions to engage conversation.”
She also stresses the importance of reminding people that there’s always someone there to listen and talk to and, in some cases, even someone on the Internet.
