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E-Comm 9-1-1 call-takers and dispatchers call on the public to “help us help”

Vancouver, B.C. — Up until the moment when you have reason to call 9-1-1, many people may take emergency service call-takers and dispatchers for granted. They are the unsung heroes who in that moment of reaching out for safety and help suddenly become the most important people in your world.

In order to recognize the dedicated work of emergency call-takers, dispatchers, technology specialists and support personnel, the Province of British Columbia has declared April 8 – 15 as Emergency Service Dispatchers’ and 9-1-1 Awareness Week. As part of the week’s celebrations, E-Comm – the regional emergency communications centre for southwest B.C. – is debunking its 9-1-1 call-takers’ top five myths to help better educate people about calling 9-1-1.

“We hope by exposing some of the most common 9-1-1 myths people will be better informed on how to use this important lifeline in the right way,” says Jody Robertson, E-Comm director of Corporate Communications. “It’s important for the public to remember that 9-1-1 is for police, fire, or medical emergencies when immediate action is required: someone’s health, safety or property is in jeopardy or a crime is in progress. Any misuse of the system diverts resources away from real emergencies.”

E-Comm’s Top Five 9-1-1 Myths

If you dial 9-1-1 from a cell phone the dispatch centre will know your exact location. 
FALSE: Unlike landline phones, cellular devices provide general location information only. The details we currently receive from wireless companies consist of basic latitudinal and longitudinal information which can be used to help determine the area from which the call originated. Although this is important information, it does not pinpoint a caller’s exact location. Callers are always the best source of information, especially during an emergency when time is of the essence. Always know your location including what city you are in, building or home addresses, cross streets or any other landmark information that will help emergency personnel find you.

The best thing to do if you accidentally dial 9-1-1 is to hang up as quickly as possible.
FALSE: If you dial 9-1-1 accidentally, stay on the line and speak with the call-taker. Do not hang up. If you do, our system will record your call as “abandoned” and our call-takers are required to call you back further tying up emergency lines.  And in circumstances where your location is known police will be sent to check on you. This diverts resources away from real emergencies and ties up call-takers who could be handling other calls for help. If you dial accidentally, the best thing you can do is stay on the line.

You must speak English to receive help from 9-1-1.
FALSE: E-Comm has a 24-hour interpretation service that can be accessed in less than a minute, with interpretation available in more than 170 languages. Teach your non-English speaking family and friends to learn the English word for the language they speak in the event an interpreter is needed. This will help speed up the process. It is also a good idea to teach the words “police”, “fire” and “ambulance” in English.

If you pre-program 9-1-1 into your phone you’ll be able to get through faster in case of an emergency.
FALSE: Never program 9-1-1 into any phone. We receive hundreds of unintended 9-1-1 calls every day from pocket dials to hang-ups, tying up emergency resources. Programming 9-1-1 into your phone causes accidental calls. Please keep your cell phone in a safe position when not in use and use a case/holster to store properly. You’re not going to forget the number and dialing three digits does not take long.

It’s fine to let kids play with old cell phones after you have cancelled your service contract.
FALSE: Never provide old cell phones to children to use as toys. Many people don’t realize that even if your phone is de-commissioned it is still able to dial 9-1-1. It is important to teach children to use 9-1-1 properly and remind them the service is for emergencies only.  E-Comm provides many educational materials, free-of-charge through its web site (ecomm911.ca) to help parents and caregivers educate children around the proper use of 9-1-1.

 “Our 9-1-1 call-takers and dispatchers are highly trained, dedicated professionals who will get you the help you need,” explains Robertson. “All of these misconceptions have the potential to interfere with their life-saving efforts.”

E-Comm answers close to one-million 9-1-1 calls each year for Metro Vancouver, the Sunshine Coast Regional District, Whistler, Squamish and the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District (south). For tips on using 9-1-1 and more information about E-Comm visit www.ecomm911.ca or follow E-Comm’s Twitter feed @ecomm911_info.

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Media contact:

Jody Robertson
E-Comm 9-1-1
604-215-4956 or 604-640-1342 (pager)
[email protected]

New Westminster, B.C. — Today the New Westminster Police Department (NWPD) announced that it will be relocating its dispatch operations to E-Comm, the regional emergency communications centre for southwest British Columbia. The transition of NWPD’s call-taking and dispatch services has been endorsed by the New Westminster Police Board and is scheduled for June 4, 2013. As Police Chief Dave Jones explains, this move will better position NWPD to continue to provide its community with quality police service while lowering potential risks and offering increased operational benefits and efficiencies.

“Operationally the decision to move to E-Comm makes absolute sense for us, and will offer NWPD several key advantages,” says Jones. “This includes enhanced cross-communication between agencies in different municipalities, a larger workforce for better staff coverage during major and extended emergency events and access to top-tier technology.  This will all help to advance our overall service delivery.”

NWPD’s decision was made following a rigorous evaluation of the department’s ability to sustain dispatch over the long run. The review concluded that maintaining the status quo is not sustainable. As NWPD moves into the future, and in order to ensure the risk to public and officer safety is addressed, this is the best and most effective service-delivery model. The analysis determined by joining E-Comm there would be major gains to be made in terms of risk mitigation, sustainability, and cost savings. Consolidation of many different police services, including dispatch, to gain operational and financial efficiencies is becoming more common within the policing community. One of the benefits of the E-Comm partnership model is that it allows for the cost of technology, training and infrastructure to be shared among police agencies.

“We have committed through our strategic plan to ensure that all sections of NWPD are sustainable and provide the best service delivery possible,” adds Jones. “The move to E-Comm will provide improved safety for both our officers and the public, greatly enhancing public safety for the City of New Westminster.”

By partnering with E-Comm, NWPD will be able to work even more closely with many of the other police agencies dispatched by E-Comm, including neighbouring Richmond RCMP. The size and scope of the E-Comm centre means that when there is a major event in one of the communities dispatched by the organization, E-Comm can draw from its large contingent of highly-trained staff and quickly re-deploy resources to help manage the increase in 9-1-1 calls. This provides an increased level of service an individual agency would be hard-pressed to achieve on its own.

“E-Comm is focused on helping to create safer communities in B.C. through excellence in public-safety communication, and we believe that unified dispatch operations are a key element in achieving that vision,” says David Guscott, E-Comm president and CEO. “Our goal with this transition is to provide New Westminster police and the residents they serve, with the same high level of service and expertise that our current 30 police and fire department dispatch partners have come to expect.”

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E-Comm answers almost one million 9-1-1 calls each year for Metro Vancouver, the Sunshine Coast, Whistler, Squamish and the southern portion of the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District and provides dispatch services to 30 police and fire departments.  E-Comm also owns and operates the regional shared radio system used by police, fire and ambulance personnel in municipalities in Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley.

E-Comm has been a proud partner of New Westminster police since 2002 when they first joined the E-Comm radio system and with New Westminster Fire/Rescue Services, which also use the E-Comm radio system and for whom E-Comm has been dispatching for since 2005.

Media contacts:

Sgt Diana McDaniel
New Westminster Police Department
P604-529-2423
[email protected]

Jody Robertson
E-Comm 9-1-1
604-215-4956 or 604-640-1342 (pager)
[email protected]

Vancouver, B.C. —The Office of the Governor General of Canada has awarded E-Comm’s vice-president of Technology Services, Michael Webb, P. Eng., with a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal—a special recognition that acknowledges an elite group of citizens for their contributions and achievements in Canada.

Webb, a resident of Surrey, was honoured for his long-standing dedication and leadership in advancing public-safety practices in British Columbia and across the country. Having transitioned to E-Comm from Emergency Management BC, Webb is now spearheading projects geared towards evolving public-safety services and enhancing the technology used by police, fire and ambulance partners across the Lower Mainland, province and country.

“Much of my career has been dedicated to public safety and I take great pride in knowing what I do contributes to the well-being of citizens in my community and throughout the Lower Mainland and the rest of B.C.,” says Webb. “For my work to be recognized by the Office of the Governor General of Canada is very gratifying.”

Under Webb’s guidance, E-Comm is putting progressive plans in place to develop our region’s Next Generation Radio Network—a significant advancement for public safety. Although still several years away, the current consolidated radio system used by police, fire and ambulance partners in the Lower Mainland will evolve to offer advanced interoperability and collaboration among public-safety agencies. It is one component of a set of initiatives underway in B.C. and across the country to equip first responders with improved communications tools and services using a variety of different types of media: voice, text, data, image and video.

“The role of technology in society is always changing and it’s important that partners in public safety continue to band together and evolve along with it,” says Webb. “I feel privileged to have been nominated as a Diamond Jubilee Award recipient by my colleagues in public safety alongside so many other esteemed recipients from the advanced technology sector. I would particularly like to thank the Canadian Advanced Technology Alliance (CATA), as a Diamond Jubilee Medal partner organization, for their support of the first responder community in Canada.”

All award recipients from the high-tech sector were recognized at an award ceremony dinner at the i-CANADA Summit Conference in Montreal on October 21.

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Media Contact
Jody Robertson
E-Comm 9-1-1
604-215-4956 or 604-640-1342 (pager)
[email protected]

The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal was created to mark the 2012 celebration of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s 60th year as Monarch, with recipients ranging from mayors, community planners, first responders and others across the country. Recipients were recognized at an award ceremony dinner at the i-CANADA Summit Conference in Montreal on October 21. More on the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal at: http://www.gg.ca/document.aspx?id=14019&lan=eng

About E-Comm 9-1-1

E-Comm 9-1-1 is the regional emergency communications centre for southwest British Columbia.
E-Comm answers almost one million 9-1-1 calls each year for Metro Vancouver, the Sunshine Coast, Whistler, Squamish and the southern portion of the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District, provides dispatch to 30 police and fire departments, and operates the wide-area radio system used throughout Metro Vancouver by police, fire and ambulance personnel. www.ecomm911.ca @EComm911_info

About CATA

The Canadian Advanced Technology Alliance (CATA) grows the revenues of its members by creating a collaborative edge — a chain of expanding value that ripples across Canada’s Innovators, Commercializers, Users, and Professionals. The largest high-tech association in Canada, CATA matches businesses with opportunities across almost every sector, so that we can all do business together. Reaching out from Canada, CATA members are connected with investment and partnership opportunities with the major global companies. As 80% are exporters, CATA’s members are the arrow-head for global growth. www.cata.ca@CATAAlliance

Vancouver, B.C. — E-Comm’s fire dispatch team is warning families to be extra mindful of their turkey cooking during Thanksgiving weekend, which also happens to be the start of national Fire Prevention Week (Oct. 7 to 13).

 “A turkey isn’t something you typically see on a list of household fire hazards, but we get 9-1-1 calls about ovens going up in flames all the time,” says Corey Kelso, E-Comm fire dispatcher and a volunteer firefighter with Pitt Meadows. “The result can be devastating if you’re not careful every time you have something cooking for an extended period of time.”

Fire Prevention Week is a national initiative to promote fire safety through education, and strives to bring awareness to the dangers of fire and how we can protect ourselves, including checking smoke alarms regularly and planning escape routes from your homes.

E-Comm has received some pretty odd calls to 9-1-1 before – including someone wanting to know how long to cook a turkey – but a turkey fire is no joke. In fact, it is a leading cause of spikes in 9-1-1 calls over the holidays.

 “A flame in your oven can start easily and escalate quickly,” says Kelso. “Oil drippings through a thin tinfoil turkey pan or bits of leftover food residue inside your oven are extremely flammable in a high temperature setting.”

To prevent a fire, ensure your oven is clean before cooking a turkey. In the event of an oven fire, turn the oven off, keep the oven door closed, dial 9-1-1 and follow the call-taker’s instructions.

Although the numbers continue to decrease, loss and injury from fire in Canada still remains high: Fire Prevention Canada reports that eight Canadians die from fire-related situations every week, with residential fires accounting for 73 per cent of these fatalities.

Fire Prevention Week is an opportunity for emergency service partners to band together and promote fire safety and emergency education for residents across the country under this year’s theme, Have Two Ways Out. E-Comm is reaching out to residents in local communities to increase emergency awareness starting from within our own homes: check your smoke alarms regularly, practise escape routes with family members and teach your children how to call 9-1-1 if they see or smell smoke. For more learning material on 9-1-1 and fire safety tips for the home, visit ecomm911.ca or Fire Prevention Canada’s website at fiprecan.ca.

E-Comm 9-1-1 provides dispatch to 18 fire departments in southwest B.C. and answers almost one million 9-1-1 calls each year for Metro Vancouver, the Sunshine Coast, Whistler, Squamish, Pemberton and the southern Squamish-Lillooet Regional District. For important news, info and tips from our emergency communications centre, follow us on Twitter: @EComm911_info.

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Media contact:
Patricia Hall
604-215-4877 or 604-640-1342 (pager)
[email protected]

West Vancouver, B.C. — Following five months of operational and technical planning, the West Vancouver Police Department (WVPD) moved its dispatch operations to the E-Comm regional emergency communications centre this morning.

Stationed at the new WVPD section of the E-Comm centre, Brian Jung – a five-year dispatcher for West Vancouver police – assumed command of the dispatch channels at 8:15 a.m., and Chief Peter Lepine took to the airwaves just after:

“I’m at E-Comm where our transition was successfully completed just moments ago,” said Chief Lepine. “Today is an important day for the West Vancouver Police Department and the community we serve.  I’m confident our new dispatch partnership with E-Comm will enhance the already outstanding service you provide to West Vancouver. Have a good shift everyone and stay safe.”

WVPD’s move to E-Comm will offer many operational benefits to the department, including the ability to increase staffing to handle sudden influxes of multiple 9-1-1 calls, and access to a back-up centre and robust operational and technical systems.

WVPD’s 10 call-taking and dispatching staff who are moving to E-Comm have been visiting the centre over the summer to meet their new colleagues and receive training. They will continue to perform the exact same call-taking and dispatch duties they did while employed by WVPD. E-Comm staff have also been immersed in training in West Vancouver to familiarize themselves with the community, its geography and WVPD operations.

“We are thrilled to welcome the West Vancouver police dispatch staff to our communications centre and are proud to be providing dispatch services to the police members serving West Vancouver,” said E-Comm President & CEO David Guscott. “Our goal is to enhance and support emergency response in every community we are a part of and to ensure we meet the high standards of service our partners expect from the critical role of 9-1-1 call-taking and dispatch.”

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E-Comm answers almost one million 9-1-1 calls each year for Metro Vancouver, the Sunshine Coast, Whistler, Squamish and the southern portion of the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District and provides dispatch services to 30 police and fire departments.  For tips on using 9-1-1 and more information about E-Comm, visit www.ecomm911.ca or follow us on Twitter @EComm911_info.

Cst. Lisa Schmidtke
West Vancouver Police Department
604-925-7429

[email protected]

Jody Robertson
E-Comm 9-1-1
604-215-4956 or 604-640-1342 (pager)
[email protected]