Ontario launches campaign against misuse of 911 system

A campaign is underway in Ontario to educate the public about the proper use of the 911 emergency call system. Launched on May 8, the multi-pronged approach will last all month. Nancy Polsinelli, the commissioner of health for the region of Peel, explains that there are two types of misuse, unintentional and intentional. The first occurs when people are uncertain about who they should contact. “They call 911 because they may not know that there are other numbers in those municipalities that can support them,” she explains in an interview with The Wire Report. “Those would be questions like ‘my garbage wasn’t picked up,’ or ‘we have a power outage,’ even car theft. If your life is not being threatened, and it’s not an emergency, it's not a risk to your health and safety.” The other calls are more of a nuisance. They could involve such trivial matters as the drive-through getting a coffee order wrong or a pizza was late being delivered. Polsinelli says the campaign has two main goals. “The first is to remind people that 911 is for urgent life-threatening calls. 911 is no joke,” she states. “The second is if you have questions or issues or you need help in non-urgent calls, then find the right number in your municipality to call, whether it’s 211, 311, 811.” The campaign has created a website which provides information on non-emergency numbers throughout the province. Users can type in the name of their municipality and learn more about the assistance that they can access. Some help comes from three-digit numbers; other services require 10-digit dialing. In addition to the website, the 911 campaign is advertising in print and on radio in 19 different languages. It is also launching a social media campaign. It is hoped that this process will become an annual event. All first responders — fire departments, paramedics,and police forces — have united to champion the effort. Polsinelli welcomes the group approach. “Where you have a group of people speaking with one voice is very different than the other public education campaigns that exist,” she says. In other 911 news, The MedicAlert Canada Foundation, the non-profit which runs the MedicAlert bracelet program, said it is going to deploy technology which connects members’ electronic health records to 911 dispatchers. After running a trial program in Ottawa in 2024, the group hopes to have a national program operational within three-to five-years. During the testing period, 8,000 individual records from the initiative’s 50,000 subscribers were accessed. MedicAlert Canada is currently working with the CRTC to integrate the new program into the approximately 200 centres that handle 911 calls. ppark@thewirereport.ca

Ontario launches campaign against misuse of 911 system

Telecom |
By Paul Park
| May 15, 2025

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Telecom |
By Paul Park
| May 15, 2025