Residents of Quinte West now benefit from Next Generation 911 (NG911), a major advancement in emergency communications technology delivered through Quinte West's fire dispatch provider, St. Catharines Fire Services.
The successful launch of NG911 by St. Catharines Fire Services enhances emergency call handling for the 36 municipalities it serves across Ontario, including Quinte West. The Ontario government, through the Solicitor General has provided $4,016,982 in funding to support St. Catharines Fire Services' transition to NG911.
NG911 represents a multi-stage, transformative upgrade to the traditional 911 system. While the process for callers remains the same - dialing 911 in an emergency - the new system introduces several enhancements designed to improve speed, accuracy, and system resilience, including:
- Quickly providing emergency operators with more-accurate data to help determine the caller's location and phone number
- Increasing reliability and cyber security, which are key elements of the new system
- Providing more backup capabilities should a failure occur within the system, and
- In the future, supporting new features, such as Real-Time Text and live emergency video calls.
Through Quinte West's partnership with St. Catharines Fire Services residents now benefit from a modernized emergency communications infrastructure designed to strengthen public safety outcomes.
"We are proud to be one of the first municipalities in southeastern Ontario to adopt the use of Next Generation 911. This system provides advanced mapping and enhanced location accuracy that will support quicker, more precise dispatching and a stronger emergency response for our residents," says John Whelan, Quinte West Fire Chief.
The transition to NG911 does not affect current access to 9-1-1 and does not affect how residents access emergency services. In an emergency, dial 9-1-1.
For more information about Fire and Emergency Services in the City of Quinte West, visit quintewest.ca/fire