Few details in redacted 911 report

Details are scant in a publicly released Telus report explaining a recent 911 outage in which a Manitoba man suffered a fatal heart attack while family and friends tried to call first responders.

Dean Switzer, 55, died March 23. His loved ones spent 90 minutes near Fisher Branch attempting to call 911.

The incident happened during a days-long network outage affecting cellphone users contacting the Brandon public safety communications centre. The outage spanned March 22 to March 24.

Telus sent a final investigative report, dated May 16, to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, which regulates Canada’s telecommunications sector.

The public copy redacts the cause of the outage. It does not state how many people were affected or what was done to solve the issue.

Telus didn’t answer a Free Press question about what it was doing to avoid repeat occurrences.

“The technical details could, if made public, provide a roadmap for bad actors to attack Canadian 911 networks, and as such is treated consistently by Telus in a confidential manner,” the company’s report states.

Key findings have been discussed with the Switzer family, Telus spokeswoman Liz Sauvé wrote in a statement. The family could not be reached for comment this weekend.

Telus cast blame on Bell: “The facilities in question are leased from Bell,” its report reads.

That led to an investigation between the two service providers, which ended with the identification of a failure on Bell’s side, causing Telus’ 911 “trunks” to fail, the document states.

“Since the outage, TELUS has made numerous enhancements to its 911 call-routing protocols,” the memo continues.

Bell didn’t respond to questions this weekend.

Telus has extended its “heartfelt condolences” to the Switzer family, Sauvé wrote.

“911 is the most important service we provide as a telecommunications company, and we design our networks to ensure disruptions are exceedingly rare and resolved as quickly as possible,” she said.

“Our customers’ inability to access 911 the evening of Mr. Switzer’s passing is something we are taking extremely seriously.”

The March outage led to debate in Manitoba’s legislature this month. Innovation and New Technology Minister Mike Moroz said he met with Telus officials on the matter.

“We are deeply concerned about the situation,” Moroz said May 15. “911 should be there when you need it, particularly in a medical emergency.”

He asked Telus to notify the province during future outages. He wasn’t available to speak on the new report by print deadline.

The Progressive Conservatives are calling for a public inquiry and the release of “all pertinent documents” from Telus, MLA Derek Johnson (Interlake-Gimli) said.

“They’re alluding to, if they made too much public, that it would give people that are up to no good (the ability) to mess with the system,” Johnson said. “If it’s that vulnerable, the government should make an inquiry.”

The provincial government should ensure all phone-service providers are able to provide reliable 911 access, he continued. He’s planning to circulate a petition for a public inquiry this week.

Telus is based in British Columbia. It saw an 8.2 per cent increase in its net income last year, reaching a total $938 million.