May Likes Toronto2d ago

Here's a nice little walkthrough for when you should call the cops:

Severe Injury/medical emergency -> No, you should call an ambulance.

Car Crash -> Fire department and ambulance

Mental Health Crisis -> Community healthcare network. 211 in most communities, or find a local community group dedicated to that care

Fender Bender -> Get yourself to a collision centre. They don't give a shit.

Crimes -> You can try the non-emergency line, but they're not gonna show up or even call back. Enjoy being on hold for 3 hours.

Someone who's an active danger to the public -> That is the cop.

There's no reason to call the cops, or for them to exist in the first place.

Show threadCarolyn

@mayintoronto Folk call 911 in most of those situations and the operator determines who gets sent.

Often times with health emergencies, fire department and ambulance are deployed, with fire truck responding the quickest. At least in my experience.

I do think the 911 operators need to be better educated with regards to alerting cops, as most folk facing an emergency know 911.

Mar 26 at 2:26amWeb
Show threadMay Likes Toronto2d ago
@CStamp There's a massive education campaign in Toronto right now getting people to call 211 for mental health and social supports instead of 911. It's been really nice to see those posters.
Show threadMay Likes Toronto2d ago
@CStamp but also if you call 911, they ask you if you need fire, ambulance or police first. (idk if that's changed recently, but I've had that a couple times calling for an ambulance.)
Show threaderin2d ago
@mayintoronto in Ottawa they ask that question first, yes. Then transfer you. Could be different with different 911 locations though. Not sure. @CStamp
Show threadAlex@rtnVFRmedia Suffolk UK2d ago

@erin @mayintoronto @CStamp

this is also how 999 / 112 operates in UK (call handler is initially from British Telecom rather than an emergency service control room) - although it is not uncommon for the Police to arrive with Ambulance even if only the Ambulance has been requested if paramedics suggest someone has taken illegal drugs, and paramedics can hail the Police from their new digital radios (all blue light services are on the same network).

Some Police units do also have medical training and equipment, and might turn up if they are nearest to the incident (although this tends to only happen for road traffic collisions and injuries caused by violence)

Show threadMay Likes Toronto2d ago

@vfrmedia Toronto cops have stopped coming along to mental health calls. 78% of emergency mental health calls last year were sent to the mental health responses teams instead of having cops around.

Funding for the teams are still up in the air, but it seems to be working well enough that the chief of police (who's a very shitty cop) publicly supports this.

@erin @CStamp

Show threadCharles A-M2d ago
@erin @mayintoronto @CStamp also in Ottawa parking enforcement is done by bylaw officers, who aren't part of the police service. One calls 3-1-1 to summon them.
Show threadCarolyn2d ago

@mayintoronto I’ve only called once, but began with “I have a medical emergency.”

I also currently live in a big apt building with enough old people that medical emergencies are not rare. It’s always the fire trucks that arrive first. They jump out, grab medical gear, get a start before ambulances finally show up, 5-10 later. I always thought it great, as minutes can count.

Show threadEdwin G. 2d ago

@mayintoronto @CStamp Last time I called 9-1-1, it was for a car that caught fire on the motorway.

Laval’s 9-1-1 asked first: “What’s the emergency?”

They dispatched, to my knowledge, provincial police and municipal fire department.

Show threadMay Likes Toronto2d ago
@EdwinG @CStamp Might be a Toronto thing?
Show threadEdwin G. 2d ago

@mayintoronto Might be… might also be a me thing.

I have only called 9-1-1 for fires. I have been lucky to not need them for anything else.

@CStamp

Show threadmusing_sys🇨🇦2d ago
@EdwinG @mayintoronto @CStamp Could also be a response time thing. Ambulances all tied up trying to offload at hospitals, the end up also dispatching fire
Show threadCarolyn2d ago
@musing_sys A good point. The time I called, it was for an elderly neighbour and I rode in the ambulance with her because she was afraid to be alone. I was surprised at the hospital wait time. The paramedics had stabilized her, so it wasn’t critical by the time we were at the hospital. I wasn’t aware that they had to wait until a free bed was found. They can’t leave without their stretchers. They had to wait about 30 minutes before they could leave. @mayintoronto @EdwinG
Show threadSarcastiCat2d ago

@mayintoronto In Winnipeg if you call 911 for a medical emergency, they dispatch a......

fire truck with a full crew of firefighters and one paramedic.

And then later an ambulance. Maybe.

It's like "Yeah, yeah, chest pain. But don't you think you might also be on fire? We'll send a fire truck just in case, ok? Yep, sending a fire truck right now...."

@CStamp

Show threadDB Schwein2d ago

@Plumbert @mayintoronto @CStamp

I don't know specifically for Winnipeg but in a lot of places fire trucks are city employees while ambulances work for private companies that are contracted to the city...so fire truck paramedics respond faster and have no incentive to (for example) take you to a hospital that's further away because they get paid better there.

Show threadSarcastiCat1d ago

@deirdrebeth

That sounds terrible, but is not the root cause here. Both paramedics and firefighters work for the same city department. Having firetrucks respond first goes back to when they reported to different city departments (still the same city, though) and had a budgetary pissing match which the fire service won. There is zero reason for this to still be the case (if there ever was). (Also public health care system, so transport to closest/best hospital.)

@mayintoronto @CStamp

Show threadDB Schwein1d ago

@Plumbert @mayintoronto @CStamp

Well that's something at least. Municipal pissing matches frequently don't end in wins for the residents 🫤

Show threadCarolyn1d ago

@deirdrebeth @Plumbert @mayintoronto This is interesting, and, yeah, fire trucks responding. Apparently when Drake's bodyguard was shot, it took 30 minutes for an ambulance to arrive. That is a very ritzy neighbourhood, I would've expected quicker response. When I called 911 in the east end of the city, the firetruck was there within 5 minutes and the ambulance was about 5-10 minutes after that.

https://www.thecanadianpressnews.ca/entertainment/drake-lawsuit-includes-new-details-about-shooting-outside-his-toronto-home/article_c1ca913e-a1fc-554f-885d-b021ebfaddba.html

Show threadCarolyn2d ago
@Plumbert I think it’s just a matter of response times. @mayintoronto
Show threadChris Siebenmann1d ago

@CStamp @Plumbert @mayintoronto That's my impression in Toronto, and I think that the response times typically work out in favor of the fire department because they have so many fire stations so you're probably only a few minutes away from one of them.

(911 will send an ambulance if you only need that, but if someone calls in an accident I think they dispatch both fire and ambulance if there's a fire unit near enough to get there first. That was my experience with my one accident.)

Show threadSarcastiCat1d ago

@cks @CStamp.

I think it is response time now, because the firefighters having won the budget fight decades ago means they have more vehicles and staff. But now we have situations where there are no fire crews available for fire calls because they are all out on medical calls. It would be better, and cheaper, to have ambulances with 2 paramedics attend rather than pumper trucks with 1 paramedic and a bunch of firefighters. We'll see if city govt can change the status quo.

@mayintoronto

Show threadCarolyn1d ago

@Plumbert @cks @mayintoronto It's more than that. Firetrucks respond then can leave when the paramedics and ambulance arrive. Ambulances transport patients to a hospital, but then have to wait around until a bed is found for a patient, which can be an hour. This will affect response times.

With regards to fire crews, it would be a rare medical emergency that would call away all engines in a station.

Show threadChris Siebenmann1d ago
@CStamp @Plumbert @mayintoronto My understanding is that fire response times (and thus fire station density) are set by how flame-proof building codes require buildings to be. Fire trucks have to be able to get from the nearest station to a fire before a small fire turns into a major one. But actual fires are unusual (we've gotten pretty good at that), so you have all those fire people sitting around otherwise idle, and all of a sudden they're mostly doing paramedic calls.
Show threadCarolyn1d ago
@cks @Plumbert That’s not a bad thing. They are being paid, might as well have something to do. It also keeps their edge for emergency response. @mayintoronto
Show threadCarolyn2d ago
@mayintoronto I haven’t been downtown in a while. That is great news. It needs to be put into muscle memory the same way 911 is.
Show threadMartin2d ago
@CStamp @mayintoronto When we moved into the house here, we had a security company install their system. The guy was an arse, didnt' give us any instructions on how it worked, or where he put sensors. We were going to complain to the company after the weekend. Meanwhile, I was unpacking boxes, hit one of the sensors with my knee. It fell off and I put it back onto the wall. 5 minutes later, we had ambulance, fire truck and the police in front of the house. The company tried charging us, but had no leg to stand on since their worker was so horrible.
Show threadCarolyn2d ago

@mcourcel @mayintoronto Oh, just wow.

Last summer, I was moving a handful of stuff, inadvertently triggered my iPhone’s SOS. I heard a horrible sound coming from my phone. By the time I was able to put things down, I saw the screen saying it was calling for help, I immediately stopped it. A few moments later, my phone started talking to me. It was a 911 operator. Scared the heck out of me. He knew my precise location, asked me questions to make sure I wasn’t under duress, he was really great.

Show threadCarolyn2d ago
@mcourcel Unlike you, fortunately no one was sent. I felt bad enough about having wasted the time of a 911 operator. @mayintoronto
Show threadAdison verlice2d ago
i'm guessing it was something like ADT? if ADT even exists in Canada...