Ambulance response times improve in early months of Winnipeg's new 911 dispatch system

Josh Crabb · CBC

· Posted: Jul 05, 2025 7:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 5 hours ago

Ambulances are getting to life-threatening emergencies faster since the motorboat of a five-priority dispatch strategy astir 2 months ago, according to the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service.

The metropolis started utilizing the new mode of triaging aesculapian calls made to 911 connected April 23, replacing an aged two-priority system. 

The caller attack "makes consciousness for our system. It really makes much consciousness for the patients, too," said Ryan Sneath, the fire-paramedic service's deputy main of paramedic operations and training.

It's aimed astatine making definite archetypal responders are disposable for the astir captious cases, portion reducing however often emergency vehicles person to contention done postulation with lights and sirens.

The determination comes with telephone volumes rising successful Winnipeg for some occurrence and medical-related incidents.

Calls to 911 are present triaged into 5 antithetic categories, with some occurrence and paramedic crews going to Priority 1 calls with lights and sirens.

The little the priority, the little urgent the response.

Sneath said aboriginal numbers amusement ambulances are getting to life-threatening calls faster.

"That clip has improved by astir 2 minutes connected average," said Sneath.

Prior to the change, ambulances were responding to life-threatening calls successful astir 16 minutes connected average, 90 per cent of the time, helium said. That fig is down to 14 minutes nether the caller system.

"Our extremity is to spot improvements successful that," said Sneath.

As portion of Winnipeg's integrated effect model, trucks with a firefighter-paramedic connected committee are often archetypal to respond wrong the national standard of nether 9 minutes.

Sneath said that remains unchanged under the caller dispatch system.

5-scale system

Under the caller system, a Priority 1 telephone is the astir clip delicate and yields the biggest response. 

Urgent aesculapian calls, specified arsenic breached bones oregon bleeding, are considered Priority 2. Both occurrence and paramedic units volition respond, but won't use lights and sirens.

A Priority 3 is simply a aesculapian telephone that requires transportation. In those cases, paramedics volition respond successful an ambulance without utilizing lights and sirens.

Priority 4 calls could beryllium thing similar a fall wherever idiosyncratic can't get up, and lone a fire unit volition respond, without using lights and sirens.

Priority 5 calls are the slightest urgent, and spot assemblage paramedics respond to low-acuity aesculapian needs that radical whitethorn beryllium capable to get assistance for done a household doc oregon a walk-in clinic.

Sneath acknowledged radical with little superior aesculapian problems whitethorn person to hold longer for an ambulance nether that system, depending connected what different emergencies are happening erstwhile they call.

"It's astir assigning our resources to the astir important calls astatine the time," Sneath said. "So erstwhile resources are available, we'll dispatch them retired to those incidents."

'Responding to much calls than ever': union

Ryan Woiden, president of the Manitoba Government and General Employees' Union Local 911, which represents paramedics, said he's acrophobic astir the effect to those lower-priority calls.

"If your telephone is not a precocious priority, you volition hold successful a virtual queue, a virtual waiting room," Woiden said. "And we volition get to you erstwhile we person an ambulance to get to you." 

But helium said erstwhile crews arrive, paramedics often find themselves having to explain the delayed response.

"Here we're reasoning we're going to beryllium helping somebody, and successful the archetypal 5 minutes we're proceeding however disappointed and however upset idiosyncratic is that it's taken that long."

Nick Kasper, president of the United Fire Fighters of Winnipeg, said the increasing fig of calls reflects the challenges archetypal responders are facing crossed the city.

"The challenges being faced by firefighters, firefighter-paramedics and paramedics connected the ambulances are not new," the national president said.

"This is simply a communicative arsenic aged arsenic time, and it's 1 that's simply compounding arsenic our colonisation grows and our telephone measurement increases."

He said he's voiced concerns to the fire-paramedic service and straight to Mayor Scott Gillingham that the higher request is starring to delayed responses to emergencies and aesculapian transports.

So far, the national hasn't seen grounds of betterment connected telephone measurement nether the caller dispatch system, helium said.

"What I'm proceeding from crews is precisely the opposite," Kasper said. "Their acquisition successful the stations, connected the ground, is that they're responding to much calls than ever."

The fire-paramedic service has committed to a reappraisal of the caller dispatch strategy aft six months.

Gillingham said the metropolis has invested in new firefighting equipment and it's up to the section to allocate resources arsenic needed.

The politician pointed to the caller dispatch strategy arsenic 1 mode fire-paramedic work Chief Christian Schmidt is trying to marque definite occurrence trucks don't spell wherever they're not needed.

"I cognize that he's been utilizing information to find wherever his vehicles spell and wherever his instrumentality goes," Gillingham said.