911 service will expand on July 28
Yukoners in any community with phone service will be able to dial just three numbers to get emergency service after July 28.
WATSON LAKE – Yukoners in any community with phone service will be able to dial just three numbers to get emergency service after July 28.
Community Services Minister Currie Dixon confirmed Friday at the Association of Yukon Communities conference that the Canadian Radio-television Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has approved the date for 911 to be delivered throughout the territory.
Anyone in Whitehorse can call 911 in cases of emergencies.
Those in other communities, however, must dial the first three digits of phone numbers in the community followed by 5555 to reach police.
The territory has been working to expand 911 to the communities.
Those steps included funding to hire more RCMP 911 operators and moving the dispatch centre to the territory’s Emergency Response Centre off the Alaska Highway near Two Mile Hill in Whitehorse.
The territory spent $334,000 to move the call centre, with the federal government putting in another $142,000 for the 911 expansion.
The CRTC approval for the date is another step in that process.
It’s one Dixon described as a big step that will make a lot of difference for those in need of emergency services.
“It’s huge,” he said of having 911 service available throughout the territory.
He pointed to a recent fire in the Northwest Territories, where 911 service is also not available in many communities.
The first person to come across the fire didn’t know the phone number to reach the fire department, which resulted in a loss of time in the response.
Had 911 service been available, they would have called it and reached someone immediately. That situation could easily have happened in the Yukon, he said.
The service will be available “anywhere you can get a phone signal,” Dixon said.
As one delegate at the conference pointed out though, that still leaves several areas between communities and in wilderness areas where there is no phone service.
While Dixon acknowledged that, he noted there are not currently any options to remedy that in those areas.
He recommended travellers have an emergency plan in place or carry a satellite phone if they are travelling in areas without regular phone service.
Comments (5)
Up 1 Down 0
Check your receipt on May 19, 2016 at 9:50 pm
Last time I went bi-directional on the highway I see signs that say "Entering the 911 service area". Well before you reach the city limits sign. Guess I got to stop and read the fine print. In an emergency call for Police Ambulance... Fire? Uh... There's another number for that.
I bet the fine print on the Canada Games facility says... Paid for by dollars from the government and a few pennies from the municipality.
Meanwhile the NWBell only gets richer.
It should have "One Call Alerts Them All" along time ago is all I'm saying.
Up 1 Down 0
Goes Both Ways on May 19, 2016 at 3:39 pm
Hey Burnt, I think its fair as on the flip side being a Whitehorse resident I pay high municipal taxes to support municipal buildings, activities, and the like. Rural Whitehorse residents living outside city limits paying a fraction of the property taxes I do then get to drive into town to use them. Believe me, it works out to a lot more than 32 cents a month! But hey, those are the breaks!
Up 2 Down 1
Burnt on May 18, 2016 at 1:08 pm
Geoff - 32 cents is the price for service. I am not mistaken. If I pay 32 Cents a month for service I expect that when there is a Fire I can call 911 and the operator will pass on the call to the appropriate parties needed. Not get told to call them yourself. So if they cannot pass the call for help, why pay full price? They should only be charged 2/3 for the 2/3 of service that rural Whitehorse residents receive.
Up 1 Down 2
Geoff Capp on May 17, 2016 at 4:50 pm
Nwtel only charged the 32c 911 charge to Whitehorse and Marsh Lake exchange customers. It covers ambulance and police, not just fire, so while fire is specific to certain areas, police and ambulance go beyond those areas. It's possible Burnt is mistaking the Bell Mobility charge that's been in the courts for so many years.
Up 4 Down 2
Burnt on May 16, 2016 at 7:11 pm
Great will this mean people living in rural whitehorse can finally use 911?
Instead of being told by the 911 operator to call the rural fire dept. (which has happened recently may I add)
Also why has NWTEL been charging rural residents 911 when they can't use it?
Hey YTG, You should have done this long ago... its 2016 for christ sake.