Aurora resident raises concern about possible ‘glitch’ in York’s 911 system

Yorkregion.com
Jan. 28, 2016
By Teresa Latchford

An Aurora resident fears there may be a glitch in the York Region 911 system.

The owner of Three Little Pigs Masonry, David Fritz, was on a job site just north of the intersection of Steeles Avenue and Yonge Street in Thornhill when a dispute between two separate work crews occurred.

Fearing the situation would escalate beyond his control, he called 911 to request the assistance of police.

Surrounded by members of his work crew, he used the speaker phone on his cell due to hearing issues and everyone heard him have a conversation with a dispatcher that lasted no longer than 50 seconds, he said.

“I was told an officer would be dispatched to my location but no one ever showed up,” Fritz said. “Luckily, my situation calmed down, but what if it hadn’t or what if I had called for something like a heart attack?”

Cellphone records from his service provider clearly show a phone call was placed at 8:25 a.m. Jan. 5 and a call to the Richmond Hill detachment of York Regional Police at 9:19 a.m. after waiting for the officer who he was told had been dispatched.

He later visited the local detachment to make his complaint and when he inquired about his 911 phone call, he was told there was no record of it.

“I’m not out to get anyone. I think the police, firefighters and paramedics do a damn fine job here, but I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night if this happened to someone else and I didn’t say anything,” he said. “If there is some sort of glitch, it needs to be looked into before something serious happens and someone loses his or her life.”

CBC Investigates recently told a story of a 53-year-old Montreal resident who called 911 when he was suffering from a heart attack but, due to an error, two ambulances were sent to another location.

When a call is made to 911 in York Region, it is connected to a YRP communication centre where the operator asks a series of questions to determine if police, fire or an ambulance is required for the emergency, according to YRP spokesperson Const. Laura Nicolle.

“We take emergency calls very seriously and strive to assess the situation and provide the appropriate response as quickly as possible,” she added.

Calls are recorded and, in the event of a hang-up, emergency responders are sent to the scene to ensure everything is OK. However, there are instances when a call is placed and is disconnected before reaching an operator. A back-up system catches these phone numbers that can be recalled by the communications centre team if needed.

After being alerted to Fritz’s situation, YRP searched these systems but have yet to find a record of the call.

“This is a very rare occurrence,” Nicolle said. “However, if there is an issue on our end, we want to find it and resolve it.”

There are cases where settings on cellphones or those set by service providers can block the call centre from viewing the phone number, she added. In those cases, the provider needs to be contacted. The phone user can then schedule a test call with the emergency call centre.

Although police has yet to determine what happened in Fritz’s case, Nicolle said the force will continue to investigate the matter.