More than a year after positioning Thompson Unlimited as the lead agency in its bid to become a 9-1-1 emergency services provider as a Public Safety Access Point (PSAP) for fire dispatch north of the 53rd parallel throughout Northern Manitoba, the City of Thompson continues to press on with its bid.
In his Sept. 8, 2008 weekly mayor's report, Johnston said, "A meeting to discuss 9-1-1 services in the City of Thompson was held with stakeholders on Sept. 4. I indicated my desire to see the City of Thompson serve as a service provider for 911 in Northern Manitoba I want to see the implementation of 9-1-1 services in the City of Thompson starting Jan. 1."
Johnston said, however, in an interview Oct. 16, 2008 "that's still the basic plan, although the Jan. 1 rollout date may be too optimistic this late in the year."
In fact, on Oct. 1 this year - and perhaps Jan. 1, 2010 - Thompson will still lack 9-1-1 service much less be Public Safety Access Point (PSAP) for fire dispatch, but Johnston said at a community neighbourhood meeting at Westwood Elementary School Sept. 23, the city presses on with its bid.
Thompson Unlimited developed the original concept position paper presented to Thompson NDP MLA and former intergovernmental affairs minister Steve Ashton last Oct. 17. Ashton at the time was also the minister responsible for the Manitoba Emergency Measures Organization (EMO). He resigned from his cabinet posts earlier this month when he threw his hat in the ring to succeed Gary Doer as NDP leader and premier of Manitoba.
Thompson Unlimited also in turn engaged, worked with and funded a consultant with provincial expertise "in the design and administration of a public safety answering point," the city said in a one-page report released Sept. 23.The city notes the business plan has been completed over the last year, received support from former Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak (MKO) grand chief Sydney Garrioch and Wabowden Mayor Reg Meade, president of the Northern Association of Community Councils (NACC), and was presented formally to Ashton and senior EMO officials.
Under the present system, three City of Thompson dispatchers, who work out of the fire hall, handle fire and ambulance calls to the 677-7911 emergency line serving local residents.
For police emergencies, local residents dial 677-6911. Until 8 p.m. on weekdays and 4 a.m. on weekends, the call is normally answered locally here at the Thompson RCMP detachment. At other times, or if no one is available here, callers to the same number are automatically routed through toRCMP Operational Communication Centre (OCC) at "D" Division headquarters in Winnipeg, which in turn dispatches officers locally.
Under the city's plan to become a PSAP hub for Northern Manitoba Thompson residents would for the first time call 9-1-1 for police emergencies also. The 9-1-1 caller would then be forwarded either to the detachment or Winnipeg Operational Communications Centre (OCC).
"While this looks to add another person in the contact chain and a possible delay, it is felt this will be more beneficial as a citizen in need of help (of any sort) simply calls 9-1-1, as is done in other major centres elsewhere. I would expect any delay between 9-1-1 and RCMP dispatch to be minimal," said Sgt. Rob Collen, media spokesman for the Thompson amalgamated detachment in an earlier interview.
Fire calls would also still be handled locally, but through the new 9-1-1 emergency dispatch.
What would change most under the plan are medical calls, which would in future under the plan be routed initially through the Brandon Fire Call Centre in the Brandon fire hall, as it is a designated PSAP, and from there through to the relatively new Medical Transportation Co-ordination Centre (MTCC), also in Brandon.
Former Manitoba Health Minister Tim Sale confirmed in June 2005 the establishment of a "new command and control centre for rural emergency medical services to be located in the Brandon Regional Health Centre."
Said Sale at the time: "The Medical Transportation Co-ordination Centre (MTCC) will become the dedicated centre for the dispatch of all rural and northern medical services including northern medevac, management and co-ordination of all inter-facility transfers across the province and will help to ensure faster response times and more efficient co-ordination and deployment of emergency medical resources Locating the MTCC at the Brandon Regional Health Centre is a cost-effective solution."
The MTCC is a critical operation that function 24 hours a day using use technology such as computer-aided dispatching and automatic vehicle location with Global Positioning System (GPS).
Call volumes for rural emergency medical services have been on a steady rise since 1991. Ambulance responses more than doubled between 1991 and 2003, going from 22,500 to 45,700 in 2003.
