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 threadCarolyn2d ago

@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.

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 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🇨🇦
@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
Mar 26 at 3:22amWeb
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