hen a New Yorker experiences suicidal feelings or acute depression, where can he turn? One place is Samaritans, a suicide prevention hotline funded through the city and state departments of mental health.

About 100 volunteers field over 40,000 calls a year from distressed New Yorkers in need of someone to talk to, says Alan Ross, the executive director of Samaritans' New York, the local branch of a sprawling international organization that has 20,000 volunteers in 32 countries. Choosing volunteers is not an easy process, he says. Of an initial group of 500 applicants, perhaps 30 to 35 are chosen for each class. Of these, Ross says, an average of only 25 make it through to help those in need. The intensive screening process is needed to weed out those that are not aware of the rigors of working on the 24-hour hotline.

amaritans, which started in Great Britain in 1953, follow the philosophy of "befriending," meaning volunteers provide a sympathetic ear to their callers' problems, while withholding any personal judgments. It is this aspect that requires the most discipline. Ross says, "It has to run like clockwork."

After serving as a hotline volunteer for seven years Ross became executive director of Samaritans in 1991, following a career in journalism. In fact, he says, all four of his full-time staff began working on the phones as volunteers. In talking with his colleagues from Samaritan branches worldwide, Ross says he is most amazed that their experiences with callers is so similar. "Suffering is universal," he says.