Province’s new 911 standard already being met in Medicine Hat

By Gillian Slade on August 29, 2018.

gslade@medicinehatnews.com  @MHNGillianSlade

New 911 service standards have been announced, with future plans to be able to text your emergency.

The provincial government expects the new standards to enhance public safety regardless of location, creating a consistent approach across the province.

“Albertans should receive quality 911 service and know the emergency response system is there for them when they need it — no matter where in the province they live,” said Municipal Affairs Minister Shaye Anderson. “I am proud that our new standards will ensure timely service, whether you live in Cardston or Calgary, Edmonton or Ensign.”

The updated standards require uniform terminology be in place, with 95 per cent of calls answered within 15 seconds, and transferred within the first minute of answering.

Call centres will be required to have a quality assurance plan, an internal annual audit process, and backup procedures to ensure 24/7 service continues in the event of a power outage or other disruption.

The Alberta 911 program, a unit within the Government of Alberta, will work with individual centres to ensure compliance of the standards by June 12, 2019, and to maintain those standards in future.

According to a story in the News on March 3, 2010, the benchmark in Medicine Hat to answer calls within 15 seconds was already met 95 per cent of the time — and it has improved since.

“We believe we meet all the targets,” said Simon Amos, manager the City’s community access department, which includes the 911 call centre.

About 99.1 per cent of local 911 calls are currently answered within 15 seconds, with an average of 4.5 seconds, said Amos. There are times when multiple people will be calling 911 due to the same emergency, and that can account for a slightly longer than average wait.

Amos believes Medicine Hat is compliant with the 60 seconds for transfers but a bit more quality assurance is required to verify, he said.

A backup plan in case of power outage or other disruption is already in place, with another office in Brier Park if needed.

“Everything is fully operational there so if anything happened we could respond immediately up there and be operational,” said Amos.

About 1,900 emergency calls for Medicine Hat are received each month, said Amos.

There are 21 regional 911 centres across Alberta, according to a government document. Collectively they receive an average of 4.3 million calls each year. A large 911 centre such as Calgary takes about 30,000 calls a month.

The province regularly makes changes to the 911 service to keep up with new technology. One of those changes to come in the future will be the ability to send a text message.

Amos says Medicine Hat already has the ability to accept 911 texts from the hearing impaired. But extending this option to all Albertans could prove quite appropriate when the caller needs to remain quiet to avoid being heard, such as if they were hiding from a dangerous person.

The 911 call centre is “More Than You Think,” an online video available here: https://youtu.be/l_a3s7ZPw6o

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