Calls grow to improve 9-1-1 service

Fraser Valley politicians will consider this week whether to push the provincial government to do more to improve responses to 9-1-1 calls.

In April, The Current wrote about how the agency that answers most 9-1-1 calls was struggling to promptly connect those in need with emergency responders.

If you dial 9-1-1 in the Lower Mainland, the odds are that a call-taker with a public agency called E-Comm will quickly pick up on the other end of the line. But while that call-taker asks whether a person needs help from firefighters, police, or ambulance, they aren’t the ones to dispatch that help. Instead, they connect a caller with a second dispatcher for that crucial job.

E-Comm also handles some of those second-stage calls—it provides dispatch service for Abbotsford police and fire departments between Abbotsford and Hope. And its responses for those calls are significantly slower and frequently below its targets.

(You can learn more about the process here.)

Data from the Abbotsford Police Department shows that E-Comm has regularly to meet its targets for connecting callers with help. Last year, more than 2,000 callers waited longer than a minute to connect with a dispatcher who can send immediate help.

The wait times are, in part, because of persistent staffing shortages that have required E-Comm to scramble just to handle the very first 9-1-1 calls. And the number of calls is growing steadily, in part because of an aging population and the ubiquity of smartphones. The union representing E-Comm’s call-takers says the volume of calls in early 2023 were about 15% higher than in 2022.

Now, that union has put together a document calling on the province to establish consistent response standards, create a cell phone levy with revenue going to fund better 9-1-1 responses, and to review emergency communications in the province.

Later this week, Fraser Valley politicians will vote on whether to add their voice in support of those recommendations. A set of motions has been added to the agenda for a Thursday meeting of the Fraser Valley Regional District’s board of directors—a group including councillors from municipalities between Abbotsford and Hope. And while the degree of support won’t be clear until the meeting, such motions rarely appear on FVRD agendas without some support from members.