Some residents in the Arborg-Bifrost area have been receiving text messages from Manitoba’s 911 service after failing to connect with an operator.
Arborg mayor Peter Dueck said last week that residents reached out to him with concerns about not being able to reach to a 911 operator during an emergency and receiving a text instructing them to call back.
One local resident had tried calling 911 from her cellphone on Aug. 13 when she saw a semitrailer in the ditch about four kilometres east of Arborg. She received a text message instructing her to call back, according to Dueck. Another woman had received three text messages in response to her attempts to get through to 911.
One of the text messages shared with the Express says:
“This is 911, we received a call from this cell phone. If you have an emergency, please call back to 911 and stay on the line to ensure help is sent. (DO NOT TEXT) If there is no emergency, you do not have to call back.”
The mayor said he reached out contacts at provincial Shared Health and the Interlake-Eastern Regional Health Authority to find out why residents could not reach a 911 operator and if the 911 service does in fact send out texts to callers who can’t get through. He also gathered details such as dates and times the residents made their calls, what telecommunications carriers the residents are using – in this case one resident uses Bell MTS and the other uses TELUS – and how they dialed 911 (i.e., using the keypad or emergency button).
He hadn’t received any reports from people having difficulty reaching 911 via a landline telephone so the problem may be limited to only cellphones.
The Express reached out to Bell and TELUS, asking if there were any connectivity issues in the Arborg-Bifrost area at that time and whether their systems automatically sent out text messages to customers who’ve dialed 911 but can’t get through. Both telecommunications companies responded quickly.
TELUS said it does not send 911 text messages to its customers and had no reports of outages in the area.
“We’ve checked with our network team who works with the 911 service in Manitoba, and they’ve confirmed that TELUS does not send these types of text messages,” said TELUS media relations spokesperson Tricia Lo. “We have not received any recent reports of dropped 911 calls or outages in the areas you mentioned in your email. You may want to contact the Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) services who manage 911 in Manitoba to see if they have more information.”
Bell MTS also said it does not send texts and it, too, has no reports of service disruptions.
“Our team has not received any reports of 9-1-1 connection issues in the RM of Bifrost-Riverton. Bell does not send an automatic text message to cellphones that have tried to call 9-1-1,” said Bell media relations spokesperson Tianna Goguen. “Some PSAPs [Public Safety Answering Point] may leverage SMS [short messaging service] to contact 9-1-1 callers who hang up or are disconnected before the call was answered; this, however, is a function of PSAP call-handling equipment rather than a network.”
A spokesperson for provincial Shared Health said text messages will be sent to cellphone users from staff at 911 centres (Brandon or Winnipeg) if a call has been dropped or interrupted and callbacks prove unsuccessful.
“We are unable to provide specific insight into what may have occurred with a call that did not reach Shared Health’s Medical Transportation Coordination Centre (MTCC),” said the spokesperson. “However, it is important to note that in regards to the incident you referred to [semitrailer in the ditch east of Arborg], several calls successfully connected to 911 and were transferred to the MTCC without issue, and help was sent immediately.”
Calls to 911 made in serviced areas outside Winnipeg are routed to either the Brandon 911 centre or the Winnipeg 911 centre – both of which operate “outside the health system because people also call 911 for non-medical emergencies,” the spokesperson added. A call that deals with a medical situation is transferred to MTCC where it is “triaged and assigned.”
“For calls routed to MTCC, if there is a disconnection before voice contact has been made, MTCC will immediately call the phone number back and will keep trying in an attempt to reach someone,” he said. “…. However, we can share that the 911 centres also attempt to call back if disconnected, and phone operators there may initiate a text message if a call is unsuccessful.”
He added that anyone experiencing a medical emergency in the province should never hesitate to call 911 or their local emergency phone number.
The Express asked the provincial government about the 911 text messages, whether there have been any critical incidents with people not being able to reach 911 and whether there are 911 staffing issues.
A spokesperson said the province is not responsible for staffing Brandon’s 911 PSAP service and is unsure about staffing levels within the PSAP.
“The RM of Bifrost-Riverton (and Arborg area) has a contract with the City of Brandon’s 911 Public Safety Answering Point to answer 911 calls in the municipality. Note that this is a separate facility from the Brandon EMS centre. Questions about staffing levels at the City of Brandon’s Public Safety Answering Point should be directed to them,” said the spokesperson.
The government is reviewing the 911 system in Manitoba to improve coverage.
“The province has initiated a review of the 911 system in Manitoba to ensure broader and more effective 911 coverage,” said the spokesperson. “The final report from the 911 review is expected in the coming months.”
