ACS worker saves life of fellow first responder

Showing the system works, a behavioral health responder from the Albuquerque Community Safety (ACS) Department was able to convince a fellow first responder — from a different department — from taking their own life.

Danna Gonzalez, who’s been with ACS for two years, took a suicidal ideation call from a woman who works as a public safety dispatcher and after hours on the phone was able to de-escalate the situation.

“She was struggling and there is that stigma, ‘Oh, you’re a first responder, you should be able to handle life,’ and it’s not true. It happens to all of us,” Gonzalez said. “I’m really proud of her.”

This woman isn’t alone. Over 13% of calls the department took in 2024 were for thoughts of suicide, averaging 195 a month according to figures provided by the department. That average was higher the second half of the year with 219 calls a month, ACS spokesperson Jorge Hernandez said in a statement.

So, ACS’s work has never been more important. After finding out the caller was a first responder, Gonzalez said she was able to relate and offer advice.

“When I go to a call, I’m really professional, but I also want the other person to know that we can relate,” Gonzalez said. “We all struggle, we’re human, so the struggle is always going to be there.”

ACS said it was their policy not to identify individual’s seeking help to protect their privacy and to ensure they aren’t stigmatized.

The department was formed as an alternative to law enforcement responses for behavioral health calls and situations that need de-escalation and began operations in 2021. The move was well timed, the following year New Mexico had the fourth-highest suicide rate in the country, according to the state’s Department of Health.

“We all know that mental health doesn’t discriminate,” Gonzalez said, “that it can be any of us and that it takes a lot of courage to get some help.”