Justice and Public Safety Minister Doug Currie is pleased to announce that government has signed a contract with Medacom Atlantic Inc. for the provision of a centralized 911 Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) for Prince Edward Island.
“A centralized 911 call answer/transfer service will enable the emergency service providers to respond to an incident faster, and will remove duplicate steps for the caller,” said Mr. Currie. “Islanders and visitors, who are dialing 911 in a stressful situation, will only have to give details about the emergency to one call-taker before being assured that help is on the way.”
When fully implemented, all 911 calls originating in Prince Edward Island will be answered at one centralized PSAP. Currently calls are answered from three different locations: Summerside Police PSAP answers 911 calls from within the city of Summerside; Charlottetown Police PSAP answers 911 calls from within the city of Charlottetown; and RCMP “L” Division PSAP answers 911 calls from everyplace else on PEI. Calls received at each of these points are assessed then transferred to the appropriate police, fire or EMS agency for dispatch of emergency responders.
The centralized location will also serve as a dispatch center for all rural fire departments, Borden-Carleton and Kensington police services and Island EMS. It will not include dispatch for RCMP, Charlottetown Police/Fire and Summerside Police/Fire.
“Eliminating this extra step will provide the public a more efficient and streamlined emergency response service,” said Mr. Currie. “It is important that everyone who calls 911 receives the same level of service, delivered in a consistent manner, throughout our one Island community.”
“Medavie EMS has been very pleased to serve the needs of Prince Edward Islanders through Island EMS,” said George McLellan, president of Medacom Atlantic Inc. “Being selected for this opportunity represents a new level of emergency responsiveness, and is a challenge we look forward to meeting through our dedicated team of professionals.”
Backgrounder:
• A Ministerial Task Group (which included First Responder agencies) suggested that the most efficient way to improve the current system would be to have all 911 calls answered and dispatched from a single location.
• All calls to 911 in the province will be answered at one central Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP).
• All rural fire services, Island EMS, Kensington Police Services and Borden-Carleton Police Services have opted to also be dispatched from this centre.
• This will not include dispatch services for emergency calls for Summerside and Charlottetown Police and Fire, and RCMP; these calls will still be transferred to Summerside and Charlottetown centres for dispatch.
• The province only has jurisdiction for the answering and transferring of 911 calls to an appropriate agency; the province does not have authority for dispatch services.
• Medacom Atlantic Inc. is a subsidiary of Medavie EMS www.medavieems.com