Record number of calls to 911 ‘alarming and unmanageable’ By: Joyanne Pursaga Posted: 5:55 PM CDT Wednesday, Jun. 14, 2023

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 14/06/2023 (1178 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeg’s 911 call centre had its busiest month on record in May, sparking concerns about wait times for emergency calls.

The centre received 42,127 emergency calls, which includes police, fire and/or ambulance service. That’s well above the 34,369 calls received in May 2022 and the five-year average monthly rate of 28,259.

“We can see some variations and we know that call volume was increasing slowly (before this) but … May was a huge jump,” said Winnipeg Police Service Insp. Gord Spado, who oversees the 911 communications centre.

WPS says most calls are still answered quickly, despite the rising demand. The average wait time for 911 calls in 2022 was nine seconds, which grew to 10 seconds in 2023, based on data up to May 31, 2023.

However, May also included the call with the longest wait to be answered since 2013. That caller waited 6.5 minutes, starting at 4:06 a.m. on May 13.

Spado said all call-takers were busy with priority calls at the time that call came in.

He did not have details about the nature of the call connected to the lengthy wait but noted any delay poses a risk.

“I’m concerned when it takes that long because you don’t know what the nature of the emergency is. It could be a 911 hang-up with just an open line that sits there, it could be a break-in in progress, or a medical (call). If somebody’s having a heart attack, 6.5 minutes is a long time,” said Spado.

Police are still analyzing the surge in calls but believe an Android phone operating system issue, which automatically turned on an Emergency SOS feature, is at least partly to blame. That issue recently created many inadvertent 911 hang-up calls that tied up operators, police say.

Spado noted other police agencies in Canada, the U.S. and Europe had the same problem.

WPS doesn’t track this type of failed call separately, so it’s not clear how many calls it accounts for or precisely when the issue began, he said.

“This is just an anomaly that we hope gets resolved quickly,” said Spado, noting staff started reporting the issue at least a month ago.

“I’m concerned when it takes that long because you don’t know what the nature of the emergency is… If somebody’s having a heart attack, 6.5 minutes is a long time.”–Winnipeg Police Service Insp. Gord Spado

Spado urges all Winnipeggers who have Android phones to update them as promptly as possible, since affected companies have promised to roll out a fix for the issue.

“Anticipating that this is a lot of false 911 calls, with the Android issue, we’re hoping that this (latest surge in calls) is going to settle down,” he said.

The problem takes considerable time to address, since 911 staff must call back each number from a suspected false call to confirm it is not linked to an emergency, Spado said.

It will also take more analysis to determine how other factors behind a long-term trend toward increased demand for 911 service factor in, he noted.

WPS says 911 call traffic increased 7.9 per cent from 2021 to 2022 and is expected to rise about 12 per cent higher in 2023, to reach roughly 421,000 calls this year.

Coun. Markus Chambers, the chairman of the Winnipeg Police Board, said multiple issues have increased pressure on 911 resources.

“Our population is growing here in the City of Winnipeg (and) we’re coming out of a pandemic and dealing with a global mental health crisis, which has impacted the calls for service as well… That’s resulted in a steady stream of calls that are received at 911,” said Chambers.

He believes the 6.5-minute wait recorded last month reflects a service that is at times “overwhelmed.”

In January, police Chief Danny Smyth asked the police board for a $1.8-million increase in the 2023 budget to hire 18 additional 911 call centre employees over the next two years. At the time, Smyth told the Free Press sick leave, overtime and attrition were on the rise and response times to 911 calls were at risk of running longer.

Council instead directed the police service to find the money in its existing budget, which led $400,000 to be earmarked for new hires later this year, said Chambers.

He said additional funding could be considered in the city’s next multi-year budget, which begins in 2024.

“If we’re seeing an impact in calls to 911, an increase in the number of calls and (at times) an increase in terms of response times, in terms of answering those calls, then we have to do this sooner than later, getting these individuals on board,” said Chambers.

Cory Wiles, president of the Winnipeg Police Association that represents 911 staff, was unavailable Wednesday, due to meetings. In an email, he said the union has been concerned about growing call volumes for eight years.

“Emergency communications call-takers and dispatchers have seen an alarming and unmanageable increase in call volumes and requests for unwanted overtime… this job is extremely demanding and employee burnout is common, which has posed challenges for recruitment and retainment. We would welcome an increase in resources to the 911 call centre so that our members are properly able to handle the demands placed on them,” wrote Wiles.

joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @joyanne_pursaga