Saskatoon resident Katie Salmers says she's seen multiple people in distress around Saskatoon's Broadway Bridge. (CBC News)

Saskatoon resident Katie Salmers remembers a man standing on the other side of the railing on the city's Broadway Bridge threatening to jump.

The man had to be talked down by emergency-response personnel. And he's not the only one, according to Salmers, who used to live in the Nutana area.

"It's just heart wrenching and you don't know if you should watch or not. You don't know what you should do," Salmers said.

Salmers said she was up late one night thinking about a friend she lost to suicide when she decided to do something to help people in those situations.Salmers says she came up with the idea in honour of a friend who died by suicide. (CBC News)

"I felt very inactive and that I wasn't doing enough. The suffering that people, even in my small community, have felt—I don't want anybody to feel that," she said.

Salmers is calling on the city to put signs up on the bridges to deter people from dying by suicide. The signs would include messages of hope and a crisis hotline number.

She wrote in to Ward 6 councillor Cynthia Block about seeing people in distress on the bridge, and some actually jump from the bridge, when she lived by it.

"I expressed my concerns about that and the frequency of it and how everyone in this community, and right around the river, is very aware of that," Salmers said. "I talked about how it's kind of our responsibility as a community to support these people."A rescue team at work on the river in Saskatoon. (CBC News)

While Salmers acknowledged that seeing a sign won't deter everyone, she said it could be of help along with mental health programs, counselling and other preventative measures.

"If in any way we can deter even one person, I think it would be very much so worth it," Salmers said.

Saskatoon woman calling for signs to deter suicides on the city's bridges

Katie Salmers says she hopes to stop people from jumping