Sgt Kathy Edwardsen is a trained police negotiator. (Submitted photo/Prince Albert Police Service)

By paNOW staff

Man talked off bridge

Patience and teamwork bring man off train bridge

Mar 25, 2022 | 3:31 PM

It took time, patience and the efforts of a trained crisis negotiator to help get a man in distress safely off the train bridge on the weekend.

Members of the Prince Albert Police were called to the bridge after a man was reported in severe distress and having an emotional crisis.

Officers responded just before noon on Sunday and it took a while before the man was willing to talk. He then accepted a coffee.

It was almost an hour into the incident that Sgt. Kathy Edwardsen, a trained negotiator since 2004, arrived.

“You could tell he was hurting. He was in pain,” Edwardsen said.

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Officers knew almost nothing about the man, not even his name, for some time.

“I told him that we wanted to help and that we were going to stay with him for as long as it took to get him to safety,” Edwardsen said. “I said there is no problem too big it can’t be solved, and that we would try to help him get through the pain.”

Members from Parkland Ambulance and Prince Albert Fire Department waited nearby while Edwardsen continued her conversation until the man was eventually helped off the bridge.

He was connected with an officer from the PAPS Police and Crisis Team (PACT), who took him for something to eat before taking him to hospital for assessment. He was accompanied by police until he could be seen by a doctor.

Working as a negotiator is all about listening, Sgt. Edwardsen said, and the rapport that patrol officers had built with the man helped her in continuing the conversation and reassuring him that help was available. Good teamwork and help from our safety partners helped ensure the man felt supported enough to seek medical attention.

“It wasn’t me that brought him off that bridge, it was the team,” Sgt. Edwardsen said.

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panews@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @princealbertnow