In case of an emergency, most people will grab a phone to call 911.
But a new generation isn't calling - they're texting.
That's becoming a worry for police and fire departments.
“Our services are only designed to take callers (with) traditional cell phones or voice-line calls, landline calls,” says Huntsville Fire Chief Steve Hernan. “With the whole world going social media with everybody getting into digital text we have to be prepared to receive that information.”
However, he says most of the provinces 150 emergency dispatch centres are not ready to take texts or emails. Police, firefighters, and paramedics in Ontario are asking the province to help.
“Hey government we need some help, we need some financial help, we need some legislation passed to get the 911 service ready to receive these (texts) and to be able to deal with them,” Hernan says.
Hannah Harris has her own cell phone, but rarely uses it for calls.
She’s “had it two months and I just use it to text my friends.”
She’s among those – predominantly younger people – who are texting and emailing instead of phoning.
Instead of calling 911, people are trying to text a photo or email information about a problem to police or fire.
Hernan says his main concern is the amount of time it can take to send and receive an email.
The OPP are working on the same problem, so they can handle emergencies that come via text or email.
“We hope to have it up and running by the end of the year. It's important to make sure it works well and is just as good as the 911 call,” says OPP Sgt. Peter Leon.
Hernan adds, “Social media is the way we're going to receive messages. It's not a question of will it happen, it's a question of it’s happening now, we just have to get on to it.”
The president of the Ontario Police Chiefs association told CTV News today the new system must be implemented province wide in order to work properly.
Some communities in eastern Canada are testing a similar system now and emergency leaders in Ontario are watching it closely.
