Toronto Injury Lawyer Blog
When there is an emergency, we are trained to dial 911
I’ve had to dial 911 from different communities across Ontario. Every community seemed to answer the phone in the same way. The script went something like this:
“911 Do you need Police, Fire or Ambulance?”
It was very straight forward, direct and clear to the caller. Time was of the essence, and the caller would respond accordingly.
One of the most memorable calls I had to make to 911 was on a long term disability case. My client was being examined for discovery at a Court Reporter’s Office in London, ON. As a result of her condition, in combination with the stress of being examined for discovery, she passed out at the examiner’s table. She was being asked questions one moment; and in then next moment she completely passed out. I had to call an ambulance which took her to hospital. The paramedics (London) were fantastic, and arrived in well under 10 minutes. Needless to say, the examination for discovery was not completed that day. Everyone was shaken up. It was a pretty traumatic experience for all of the parties, including the Court Reporter and everyone in the waiting room. The defence lawyer reported what happened to her client, and the case settled soon after. This time, the pain and suffering was not compartmentalized to the Plaintiff alone. It was one of the few times where an insurance defence lawyer had a front row seat to a Plaintiff’s pain, suffering which impacted their ability to complete their job.
Not too long ago, there was a medical emergency at the Toronto Office Location of Goldfinger Injury Lawyers. We had to call an ambulance, and so we did. Brian Goldfinger made the call.
When I called, I was not greeted with the traditional live operator’s greeting “911 Do you need Police, Fire or Ambulance?”.
Instead, it was a recorded greeting from the Toronto Police Service stating something to the effect “You have reached the Toronto Police Service. Please hold the line and we will be right with you“.
This was very confusing. Why wasn’t a live operator picking up my call. This was an emergency and I didn’t have the time or patience to be put on hold right away. Also, I didn’t need the Toronto Police. I needed Toronto Ambulance. Why was my 911 call going to the Toronto Police and not a 911 dispatcher who could send out an ambulance?
I hung up the phone after being put on hold, and called back, hoping this time I would get a live person and a real 911 dispatcher.
The same thing happened for my second call to 911. I was put on hold with a recorded message from the Toronto Police Service. This was very frustrating, and did not make any sense. How is it that I can’t get a real person to pick up the 911 call; and why is it that my 911 calls are going to the Toronto Police (I don’t need the police, I need an ambulance). Again, I hung up because this was not making any sense. 
On my 3rd call to 911, I finally got a live person. They put me through to ambulance and we asked for an ambulance to come to our law firm. But, what was particularly strange was that the dispatcher told me that they were very busy (it was a Friday morning around 11AM or so), and that Toronto Ambulance did not have a lot of cars available this morning (why not?). They told me that it could be a while before the ambulance would arrive.
We waited 20 minutes.
Then 30 minutes
Then 45 minutes
At the 1 hour mark, Toronto Ambulance called to reassure us that we were on their list, and that a car would arrive as soon as one became available. They were just very busy, and short staffed that morning. You can imagine how frustrating this was for everyone involved.
Eventually, we called Hatzoloh. They arrived within 6-8 minutes from the time of our call. They did what Toronto Ambulance could not do. They were prompt, professional and got the job done. I was amazed at their level of responsiveness and care.
At the same time, I was disappointed at the inability of Toronto Ambulance to simply get to my office to do their job. I was also upset because when I called 911 I was put on hold, and the hold message was so confusing because it was from the Toronto Police Service so it made it sound like I was only being connected to the police by dialing 911.
I don’t think that 911 in Toronto was that bad 10 years ago. I also don’t know if my experience would be the same if I needed police, or fire. I can tell you that when I’ve needed to call for the police in the City of Toronto, they’ve been very responsive to our calls. But, I can’t help but wonder why this was so poor when dealing with the ambulance? Was this was another sign of a crumbling city which isn’t covered in the news because it happens so often, or because it’s not newsworthy? From what I understand, my experience in getting an ambulance in Toronto is not uncommon, which is part of the reason why services like Hatzoloh exist.
Most upsetting was being placed on hold when dialing 911 in Toronto. This shouldn’t happen. Nor should it happen when there is a misleading hold message. You entire house could be burning down and you get put on hold with a hold message from the Toronto Police when you desperately need the Toronto Fire Department!?? Somebody should look in to this as there has got to be a better way.
In case you’re wondering, the person who needed the ambulance eventually got to hospital where they had to wait 3+ hours to see a doctor. This sort of wait time from 911 and from the hospital would be unacceptable years ago. We were better than that. Things have changed dramatically. Today, these low standards appear to be the new normal.
