All three Medical Communications and Coordination Centres in Saskatchewan have launched Next Generation 9-1-1, which is a new IP-based emergency communications network that replaces the previous analog phone systems.
The switch to NG 9-1-1 will make calling for help easier for people with accessibility challenges while also improving location accuracy and reducing waiting.
Lyle Karasiuk, who is the Director of Support Services and Media Relations for Parkland Ambulance Care, says that the switch makes communication across the province much easier to do.
“Sometimes we want to share information with one of the other communication centres, we can’t do it as efficiently as we can now. We all have the same language, we all work on the same network, and so we now have a complete system, not only in software but in hardware, which completes the provincial upgrade.”
Karasiuk says while callers may not notice much of a difference in services, the streamlined system will make it easier for responders to provide those services.
“From the public’s side of it, they’re still going to receive the same great service that they received from our communication before. They probably won’t notice any difference whatsoever.”
He says that in cases where one of the centres too busy to take a call, transfers to other centres will be seamless.
With the implementation of NG 9-1-1, Karasiuk says it will be easier to make upgrades to existing services.
“There’ some new stuff coming down for us as an agency in the early part of the new year. Because this first part is done, we’ll start to see stuff like mobile data terminals coming to our ambulances, which will greatly improve our crew’s ability to get to the scene more efficiently and get data better too.”
Karasiuk says that the implementation of NG 9-1-1 will not hinder any medical services and adds that the public will likely not notice any major differences in how service is delivered to them.
NG 9-1-1 is also a future-proof platform, meaning it is built to support upgrades that will occur down the line.
