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Some cool to streamlined 911

April — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 13:52:51 +0000

WATERLOO, ON, CANADA — Rescue delays in a fatal helicopter crash have persuaded regional councillors to push harder to put emergency dispatchers under one roof.

But not everyone agrees that merging four dispatch centres would resolve communication miscues, despite a report that concludes it would.

“I’m not sold one way or the other,” Cambridge Mayor Doug Craig said. The Cambridge fire department would lose its dispatch centre in a merger.

Craig said emergencies are regularly handled without communication delays although the helicopter crash was not. “I don’t think we should overreact in terms of how to fix it,” he said.

Kitchener Fire Chief Tim Beckett is not persuaded emergency dispatchers must be put under one roof. The Kitchener fire department operates a dispatch centre that might be lost.

“I’m sold on what’s best for public safety. And that hasn’t been determined yet,” Beckett said in an interview. “I think we need to explore this in more detail.”

Pilot Tiffany Hanna died at the scene Nov. 28 when her two-seater helicopter fell into a drainage pond at the Region of Waterloo International Airport. A flight student was badly injured but survived.

An official crash report confirmed that 911 dispatchers told police the exact crash location but mistakenly waited up to 12 minutes to tell firefighters and paramedics.

After reviewing the rescue, retired Waterloo Regional Police chief Larry Gravill has concluded the solution lies in merging police, fire and ambulance dispatchers, to better share information and technology.

Responding Tuesday, regional councillors voted to push for a streamlined dispatch system that could be funded in 2013. Dispatch centres are operated by three municipal governments and the province.

“It’s not as simple as it sounds, just taking all the dispatch centres and plopping them into one location,” Beckett cautioned. “There are governance issues, there are labour issues, there are technology issues, there are financial issues that need to be explored.

“We’ve got to be mindful that there are several organizations involved in this and that those organizations need to have that input and make sure that we’re heading in the direction that’s best for public safety.”

A possible alternative would be to have emergency dispatchers share technology at different sites. That’s not Gravill’s ideal outcome.

“These groups work so well together as a team on the ground at an event,” he said. “It just makes sense to me that that same team of people who would dispatch them, who would convey information, ought to be co-located in the same room.”

Read the story here.

Street names causing 911 concerns

April — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 14:16:45 +0000

WATERTOWN, NY — When it comes to house fires and other major emergencies, response time is sometimes the most important factor in saving property and saving lives.

City of Watertown Fire Department Capt. Todd DeMar said, “Whether or not we can get there and really make a difference is sometimes measured in seconds”

And getting the correct address and street name is essential in that process. But just this past week Fire Officials have raised some concerns with certain street names in the city of Watertown.

Capt. DeMar said, “We have housing developments where they named a lot of their own streets and in some cases a street name they named something may be very similar to something that we’re used to responding to.”

Watertown Mayor Jeff Graham said, “This came up from some internal memos from the fire department, they expressed their concern and that’s where it’s gone from there.”

Communities like Ives Hill Retirement and Summit Wood are two of the problem areas, but issues have also surfaced in commercial areas as well. These businesses in the Watertown City Center are all listed at the same address on Arsenal Street.

Now city officials and first responders alike want to address the street naming situation before more developments like this one are built.

Graham said, “I think that really should be something city council should be involved in or the planning department for two reasons, one is consistency and appropriateness, the other is safety.”

DeMar said, “It’s very frustrating sometimes to have to go back and clarify was it Waltham or Weltha? Was it Hunt Street or Hawk Street? So the street names unfortunately do matter.”

Graham believes this issue will best be resolved at the Planning Board level, alleviating any further confusion. Something fire officials say can really make all of the difference in keeping the community safe.

Watertown’s Fire Department said currently the street name confusion hasn’t caused any major problems with emergency responses in the area, thanks to clear communication from 911 dispatchers.

Read the story here.

E911 operators say they feel underpaid, under-appreciated

April — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 18:44:57 +0000

DEKALB COUNTY, GA — If it weren’t for negative attention, DeKalb County E911 dispatcher Nyesha Brown says she and her co-workers would hardly get any recognition. In September, when the county recognized first responders during its Sept. 11 commemoration, Brown said E911 operators were not mentioned.

“911 is not a clerical non-essential position,” Brown said. “We are the heartbeat of DeKalb and without us there is basically no public safety.”

For the National E911 recognition week last April, Brown said dispatchers held bake sales and hotdog sales to raise money to “appreciate ourselves.”

“When Mr. Doe has fallen on hard times and can’t pay his mortgage and feels like life is at the end for him, I’m the one that talks him off the bridge at Spaghetti Junction,” Brown said. “Contrary to popular belief, we are more than just cackling hens sitting at a console dying to get nasty with the public. We are lawyers, we are counselors. We are doctors.”

Brown and two other E911 operators spoke to the county Board of Commissioners on Jan. 10 about being underpaid, unappreciated and understaffed.

Dannie Rivera, who has worked as a DeKalb E911 dispatcher for seven years, said that although she loves her job she has “begun to question if that’s reason enough to stay.”

“Not because of the furlough days that we have to take, not because of the occasional reduction in pay we had to take and not because of the raises we have not received in more than five and a half years,” Rivera said.

The E911 dispatchers are upset that they have not received pay raises even though there is money available for the salary increases. E911 operations are not funded by the cash-strapped county budget, but by E911 fees on telephone bills.

“Yes the county is in a budget shortfall and has been for a while,” Rivera said. “Yes, there is no money in the county budget to give anyone raises and yes it would be absolutely unfair if what little money the county has is spent to give us a raise.

“Those are all valid reasons to not to give us a raise if the county was the one paying our salaries in the first place,” Rivera said.

The mandatory furlough day, pay cuts, and lack of raises for E911 operators “saved the county absolutely no money whatsoever,” Rivera said. “We should not have to do any of that at all.”

Rivera said there is more than enough money in the E911 fund for annual raises.

“Who would think that in this economy, the problem would not be that there isn’t money to grant raises, it’s that for whatever reason, the county is just not going to provide raises.”

Fairness for all county employees is the reason there have not been raises for the dispatchers, according to DeKalb’s Public Safety Director William Miller.

“There’s funding there,” Miller said. “However, they are employees of DeKalb County just like every other employee. We try our best, even in these hard economic times to adequately and fairly compensate our employees.

“We don’t want to get into a scheme where we are elevating the salaries of one particular class of employees over another,” Miller said. “We want [the dispatchers] to be fairly compensated. We just have to make sure that everybody is fairly and equally compensated based on the jobs that they perform.”

To the complaints that the E911 center is understaffed, Miller said “I wouldn’t say [it’s] very understaffed. All county departments are kind of shorthanded right now.”

According to Mekka Parish, a DeKalb County Police spokeswoman, there are 16 funded, open positions in the department, 12 operations personnel, one watch commander and three supervisors.

The “turnover rate has been somewhat unstable in the past few years,” Miller said. “I believe it has stabilized to some degree now.”

Rivera had a different perspective.

“People are leaving in droves,” Rivera said. “Some are leaving to do the same thing for another agency that pays less, has better benefits and lower pension deductions. The pay is less but they’re still able to get annual raises and have less responsibilities and liabilities than what’s put upon us.”

E911 dispatcher Danielle Stewart said people calling 911 quite possibly will get a recording “not because someone put you on hold, but because there just aren’t enough operators to take the more than 1 million calls that we process annually.”

In the past 12 months, 33 employees quit, with some going to lower-paying jobs, some opting to stay at home and some gone to trucking company dispatch jobs, Stewart said.

“It’s easy to see we are extremely understaffed,” Stewart said. “Why are we understaffed? Because there’s no incentive to stay.”

Miller said the public safety department is trying to staff the 911 center and regularly hold hiring fairs.

Miller said the hard work of the dispatchers is appreciated.

“We have quality employees in there,” Miller said. “They do an excellent outstanding job every single day. We’ve had employees in there who have saved lives via the response they’ve given.

“Our 911 operators are the backbone and the foundation of this department,” Miller said. “I’ve told them that. They’re well aware of that.”

Read the story here.

Pinal County changing policy on 911 hang-ups

April — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 20:56:37 +0000

FLORENCE, AZ — The Pinal County Sheriff’s Office Public Safety Communications Division is changing the way 9-1-1 calls are handled in the event the person making the call hangs up or is unavailable.

Since 1983, when the state of Arizona implemented 9-1-1, PCSO policy was to assign a deputy to respond to each call.

Due to the amount of calls Pinal County receives each year (603,812 in 2011) combined with the increase in calls made from a wireless device, PCSO Public Safety Communications Director Jennifer Foster requested a formal change in the existing policy to better allocate resources; specifically regarding 9-1-1 calls in which the caller would hang-up, or mistakenly dialed.

In 2011, PCSO Public Safety Communications fielded 9,870 hang-up calls, all of which a PCSO deputy was assigned and responded to, even if the call was accidental. Many of the calls were difficult to track because the caller was in a moving vehicle.

Chief Deputy Steve Henry immediately approved the request and all Communications Staff is receiving training to implement the new policy.

Determine the type of phone being used.

Call the number back and attempt to determine the security of the caller.

If applicable, enter a call for service according to the type of call received.

All silent or open line calls will be challenged with the telecommunications device for the hearing impaired.

No call will be assigned to a deputy if the dispatcher can determine

9-1-1 was misdialed through caller admission.

This change will only affect calls being made from wireless devices. Nothing will change on wire-line telephone 9-1-1 calls because a true location is known.

Foster stated, “This change in procedure will result in better time management and overall call-handling for the 9-1-1 operators and dispatchers as well as the deputies whose time will be made more available for other priority calls for service and proactive policing. I foresee response times improving for all regions in Pinal County as result of more responsible handling and allocation of our available resources. I am interested to see what the response time totals are after 2012 as we will have even better data regarding the handling of 9-1-1 calls into PCSO.”

Chief Henry stated, “Given budget cuts we’ve seen to public safety, when Foster came to me with this request it was an easy decision. In the short and long term, fuel savings from cutting unnecessary call-outs will significantly save our office money. More importantly, deputies will be doing the work they’re meant to be doing: protecting citizens and saving lives.”

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Upton residents urged to call 911 if needed

April — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 14:37:17 +0000

UPTON, MA — In a reverse of a frequent problem in other towns, rescue officials here say people with medical emergencies are calling the Fire Department’s regular business number instead of 911.

By dialing the business number, those with medical emergencies end up delaying the response of rescue personnel which can have disastrous consequences.

When people dial 911, the call goes to the Upton Police Department, which then dispatches rescue personnel. The Police Department is staffed 24 hours a day, whereas the Fire Department has overnight lulls when it is not staffed, said Fire Chief Aaron Goodale.

“This trend seems to be happening more and more; sometimes more than once a day,” Goodale said.

He suspects some members of the public may be under the wrong impression that calling 911 is a burden to safety workers. In other cities and towns, public safety departments have the opposite problem, with people calling 911 for trivial reasons.

“The problem seems to lie in what people’s definition is of an emergency, and when the appropriate time is to use the 911 system,” he said.

People may be apprehensive about dialing 911 for help because they fear consequences if the situation does not pan out to be a true emergency.

“I think as a public safety community, we have spent time over the years reinforcing our message of when not to abuse 911. Now we’re concerned that people need to be educated on what constitutes an emergency and that it is OK to call 911,” he said.

Most of the incidents that people are calling the business line for — but should be calling 911 — are small kitchen fires, carbon monoxide alarms going off and smoke detectors chirping, said Upton firefighter and emergency medical technician Bonnie Lopez.

If an alarm is going off, people need to call 911 so the department can check it out, she said.

Rescue personnel would especially want to examine the levels of carbon monoxide, she said.

Those types of incidents can easily turn into a serious situation, Lopez said.

“A lot of homeowners don’t think it’s important — but say they had a pan fire that they managed to put out. Sparks could easily go some place they don’t see. It takes a little while to smolder before becoming a fire,” she said.

Town Manager Blythe Robinson publicly addressed the subject at a Board of Selectmen meeting Dec. 20,

“I can’t stress enough, if you have an emergency of some kind, be it medical or fire, please call 911,” she said.

“This is not a burden on the department, rather it assists us with deployment of resources to the call, and helps us with our record-keeping requirements.”

Read the story here.

Netcare 911 makes a lad’s dream ride come true

Caitlin — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 15:00:25 +0000

SOUTH AFRICA — A RIDE in an ambulance, this time upfront though and not as a patient, was a dream come true for a Howick youngster.

For as long as he can remember Kyle Wright has wanted to be a paramedic.

This dream only became stronger when a gravely ill Kyle, who suffers from cerebral palsy, had to be transferred to hospital by ambulance a few years ago.

This festive season Kyle’s long cherished dream was realised.

Peter Feurstein, Operations Director of Netcare 911, said the team was so inspired by the enthusiastic 20-year-old and his passionate interest in emergency medical care that they assisted him experience his life’s passion first hand.

Anthea Wright, Kyle’s mother, says that ever since Kyle was a little boy he has had a fascination for ambulances.

“This interest developed into an absolute passion after Kyle required emergency care three years ago and was transported in an ambulance from our home in Howick to Pietermaritzburg for treatment,” she says.

When planning what to give Kyle for Christmas, Wright contacted Netcare St Anne’s Hospital in Pietermaritzburg to find out how a paramedic uniform could be obtained. Louis Joubert, General Manager of Netcare St Anne’s Hospital explains how plans were quickly made to ensure that Kyle could be taken on a special trip in an ambulance — this time in the front seat and in his very own Netcare 911 uniform.

“As a facility that is committed to serving our community we were happy to provide this ardent young man with a memory that he could cherish forever,” says Joubert.

A few days ahead of Christmas Day Kyle’s parents took him to Netcare St Anne’s Hospital where he was introduced to the Netcare 911 team and presented with his own paramedic uniform.

This was followed by a special trip in the company of a group of Netcare 911 paramedics. The experience left Kyle speechless with joy and excitement.

According to Wright, the time Kyle spent with the Netcare 911 paramedics was the highlight of his year.

“Kyle was in his element throughout the experience. He was thrilled to be involved and to be made to feel like a part of the team,” she says.

Wright relates that Kyle was so proud of his experience that he even wore his Netcare 911 jumpsuit to church the following Sunday.

Feurstein points out that while Netcare 911 uniforms are not usually available to members of the public, the team felt it would make the experience extra special for Kyle if he could be provided with his own Netcare 911 jumpsuit. “An appropriate second-hand uniform in Kyle’s size was located and given to Kyle on the day. Strict measures were adopted to ensure that patients requiring emergency medical attention would not be compromised in any way during the half-hour that Kyle was in the ambulance.”

“The Netcare 911 team was deeply touched by this exceptional and passionate young man.

“We were humbled to see the excitement on Kyle’s face throughout his experience and were pleased to have played a part in making his dream come true.”

Read the story here.

Roxbury board addresses 911 concerns

April — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 13:59:39 +0000

ROXBURY, ME — In November 2007, fire and a propane tank explosion destroyed an old camp off East Shore Road at Garland Pond in Byron.

Half of the responding 25 firefighters got there late, because they were only given East Shore Road as the location.

So they arrived quickly on East Shore Road, but it was in Roxbury on the wrong road in the wrong town, about 8 miles from the correct location.

That problem still exists now and it was revealed at Tuesday night’s selectmen meeting when Selectman Timothy DeRouche broached 911 concerns regarding his home on East Shore Road in Roxbury.

“My UPS guy goes to Garland Pond, but I want the ambulance to come to my house when I call,” DeRouche said to laughter.

Roxbury firefighter and E911 officer Roland Patneaude said he tried to resolve the confusion after the Garland Pond camp incident.

“I tried to take care of it from that point on and nothing wanted to be done about it,” Patneaude said. “I even went to Byron to get them to do something and they didn’t care.”

So Patneaude reiterated what he said then about the same length of road that has three names: East Shore Road, South Shore Road and Main Street.

He wants to rename the stretch Main Street from where it leaves Route 120 (Roxbury Notch Road) to the East Shore Road dead-end at the Byron town line.

“That’s quite a parcel,” DeRouche said. “Can we just change East Shore Road?”

“You still have an issue with South Shore Road,” Patneaude said.

“If you’re going to change it, it’s easier just to go from 120 right straight through. Make it all one street.”

“I understand that, but that’s a very big parcel,” DeRouche said.

“You’d have to renumber every house. Why do we want to change all of that just to send an ambulance to my house? Why do we want to change the whole town?” he asked.

“Because of the issues they have,” Patneaude said.

“If anyone is going to Byron, they know they have to turn on Main Street, but they don’t know where Main Street ends and South Shore Road begins. They think they’re on Main Street anyways, driving down to First Beach, Second Beach and Third Beach and right to the end,” he said.

“That’s the issue — they think they’re still on Main Street, because it’s straight ahead,” Patneaude said.

Main Street, however, ends at Roxbury’s West Shore Road, which is a private way, and becomes South Shore Road.

“Yeah, but if you punch in 50 South Shore Road, it should bring you to 50 South Shore Road,” DeRouche said, referring to a GPS unit.

“If you punch in 50 East Shore Road, it may bring you over to Garland Pond and that’s my issue. That’s what I am saying. We’re changing everyone just because of one road.”

Chairman John Sutton sided with Patneaude. He wants one name only for the stretch between Route 120 and the Byron town line. He also wants West Shore Road in Roxbury renamed.

“I thought GPS was supposed to eliminate this,” Sutton said.

“When you call up 911, they should have the location of that, regardless of what the name of the road is or what town it’s in.”

Selectman Michael Worthley related an incident where a Roxbury man injured his head in Roxbury and the ambulance went to Byron, because all they had was Byron Road.

That’s why Roxbury firefighter Matthew Patneaude said they’ve advised dispatchers in Paris to provide the resident’s name along with the street address, because they know where residents live.

DeRouche motioned that Roland Patneaude submit a plan to solve the problem. It was approved 3-0.

“All we want is for the ambulance to go to Tim’s house. That’s all,” Sutton deadpanned to laughter.

Read the story here.

Some worry responses to 911 calls are too slow

April — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 14:49:53 +0000

LYCOMING COUNTY, PA — Three residents spoke at the Loyalsock Township supervisors meeting Tuesday night about whether they will be safe if a disaster occurs and the Loyalsock Township emergency responders are not available.

The residents wanted to know why dispatchers are sent to emergencies far away, when there are closer ambulances available. Bill Carlucci, lawyer for the Loyalsock Volunteer Fire Co. No. 1, said after the meeting that who gets the call is based on a dispatch system the county has in place.

“In my opinion, Lycoming County is way ahead of any county in Pennsylvania,” Carlucci said.

The county is served by 35 to 38 fire companies, he said, and when an emergency call is received, it is not just about the first and second responders who can get it.

“Someone is prepared to back up the first due and the second due,” he said. “Things can be planned for if there’s an equipment failure or flat tires, if the first dispatch unit can’t complete the assignment.”

He could not say who the second dispatch would be if the Loyalsock fire company would be unavailable because it always changes based on who is available and closest. Just because a fire department is close does not automatically mean it will get the assignment.

A fire company that is seven miles away on Interstate 180 is not the same as seven miles away on Route 287, he said.

Equipment backup also matters, in case a truck does not start or has mechanical issues.

“It isn’t as simple as ‘I’m closer than her, send me,’ ” Carlucci said. “It’s much more different. It needs to be professionally analyzed.”

Chairman John C. Bower Jr. said the supervisors will look into whether something needs to be changed about the system in place.

One of the residents told Bower the reason for the concern about who will back up the fire department is a result of a person dying in Clinton Township, allegedly because of slow service.

“Those are pretty strong accusations,” Supervisor Jeffrey W. Rauff said. “Be careful what you say.”

No details were available about the alleged incident.

Supervisor Virginia M. Eaton said she wanted to know the number of fatalities in the township as a result from slow service but was told the information could not be provided.

In other news, Shannon Lukowsky said the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources approved an application for the trail and bridge project for Riverfront Park. The grant is for $174,600.

The project will include a 1/2-mile trail around the perimeter of the multi-purpose field and a pedestrian bridge over Bull Run.

The total project estimate is $218,296. Lukowsky said they plan to start the project in the spring and finish in the summer.

Read the story here.

Slow start for 911 address signs: ‘Many don’t know about law’

April — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 14:39:52 +0000

LA SALLE COUNTY, IL — By October, reflective white-on-blue address signs should be a common sight in rural La Salle County.

But so far the transformation has been slow.

Thus far, for the thousands of signs that will need to go up, the county has received just fewer than 600 applications from rural residents and businesses, said Curt Yasm, La Salle County’s 911 director.

“It’s not going as quick as I thought it would,” he said.

Part of the reason is the “911 signs” are not due to be in place until Tuesday, Sept. 11 — a year from when the County Board unanimously passed the law requiring them for homes and other buildings.

County Board Member Herman “Bones” Bruns, D-Streator, said both he and his neighbor ordered the signs. Bruns although he has already put his in place, his neighbor is waiting for better weather to tackle the task.

Another reason for the slow response to place orders may be many rural residents may feel the address sign they have already have posted is in compliance.

The county ordinance says those who already have a sign of a different color that otherwise meets specifications are allowed to keep them until they need replacement. Typically those signs were erected by a fire protection district. But not every fire district sign meets the ordinance specifications, noted Rich Wessels of Viking Signs in Sheridan, one of the county-endorsed sign vendors.

The law specifies a white-on-blue metal sign of 18 by 12 inches with white 4-inch numbers and 1 1/2-inch letters on both sides.

The Wildwood development in Northville Township with existing fire district signs appealed to the county for an exemption. But both the 911 Board and the Development Committee have ruled against an exception.

Still another reason may be many rural residents simply are unaware of the sign requirement, despite media publicity initiated by the County.

“That’s what I’m running across,” said Wessels. “Many people don’t even know about it yet.”

“I’ve heard that, too,” said Yasm, who said the county will keep publicizing the sign law.

No matter what the reason for not erecting a new sign, those who do not comply face an initial minimum fine of $50 and for each subsequent violation a fine of not more than $1,000.

Yasm works closely with the sign vendors.

When a customer contacts an endorsed vendor, their sign application is conveyed to Yasm who checks to make sure before the sign is made up that the address is one in the 911 database.

Yasm also said he averages about 15 to 20 calls every week about the signs, typically how to order them or where to place them.

The ordinance recommends the use of a 7-foot steel U-channel post for sign mounting. The sign will need to be between 3 and 5 feet from the ground to the bottom of the sign. The sign will need to be kept “clear of all vegetation, snow or other such debris such that the top 2 feet of the post are visible from the public roadway.”

In some cases, properties may need two signs. For homes that share a private roadway where multiple address signs are posted on a single roadside pole, a second address sign will need to be at the specific property site.

Sheriff Tom Templeton repeatedly has advocated a uniform sign system displaying addresses according to the county’s progressive numbering system is essential for accurate emergency response by fire, police and ambulance personnel.

“If we can’t find you, we can’t help you,” said Templeton

Read the story here.

Highway markers could improve 911’s efficiency

April — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 13:59:44 +0000

MUSKOKA, ON, CANADA — Installing kilometre markers on rural roads could help 911 callers pinpoint their locations for emergency crews more effectively and quickly, a District of Muskoka report suggests.

Tabled at a planning and economic development committee meeting on Dec. 15, the report examines the possibility of installing the markers on non-urban roads in Muskoka. The markers have been installed along a number of other Ontario highways, including Highway 60 in Algonquin Park, and are popular in the United States.

“These signs assist a caller in identifying their location while driving on more remote highway sections,” said Graham Good, the district’s manager of geomatics.

According to Good’s report, it would cost $95,000 to install the markers along Muskoka’s rural roads, with additional costs needed to maintain the signage in the future.

None are currently installed on Highway 11, where motorists rely on interchange markers and exit ramps to identify their locations.

Although hydro poles have unique identifiers that can help 911 call takers pinpoint a caller’s location, those markings are usually a small bar code number, which can be difficult to see from the road.

Adapting the dispatch system to rely on hydro pole identifiers would also require a legal agreement to receive and distribute data from Hydro One, and not all emergency dispatch centres are equipped to use hydro pole markers in pinpointing calls.

The committee has yet to make a decision on the idea of installing kilometre markers, and the district’s engineering and public works department has not yet allocated any funds for such an initiative.

In the event of emergencies on and around railways, Good said the district has access to GIS data for CN Rail markers, but has not yet acquired similar information for CP rail lines.

Along snowmobile trails, the Ontario Federation of Snowmobile Clubs has provided the local ambulance service with a web-mapping link to help 911 call takers locate callers on trails.

Another report by Good also mentions the possibility of changing the 911 verification program, which is aimed at verifying and correcting civic address errors. Under the program, summer students hired by the district visit a sample of addresses throughout Muskoka to conduct 911 test calls from each address. The OPP, however, has become concerned these test calls would bog down 911 call takers from receiving calls for real emergencies.

Alternatives include having students verify civic addresses against a Bell Canada database, or using GIS technology to confirm the location of docks, buildings or driveways.

Although the current 911 verification system costs $14,000 each year, Good’s report says a modified system would not require an additional budget allocation.

Read the story here.