April 10 to 16 is 911 awareness week. During this week, the Region of Peel recognizes the crucial work 911 emergency communicators and emergency services perform. 911 connects residents to Paramedics, Police, and Fire when residents need immediate help.

Last year, almost 40 per cent of calls to 911 were not due to an emergency. This means that valuable time and resources were lost due to accidental calls and non-emergencies. To ensure 911 services are used for emergencies only, the Region reminds residents to avoid non-emergency calls to 911 by:

• Only calling 911 when someone needs immediate help from Paramedics, Police or Fire – that means someone’s health or property is in immediate danger
• Calling 311, 211 or non-emergency phone numbers for access to non-emergency help
• Remembering to dial 011 codes before calling internationally
• Locking your cell phone and not programing 911 into your phone
• Teaching your children how to recognize an emergency and how use 911 correctly

Don’t hang up

Stay on the phone with the 911 communicator to make sure they have the information they need to send emergency services to your location. Location is difficult to determine on a cell phone.

Don’t panic if you call 911 accidentally. Stay on the phone so the communicator knows you’re okay. If you hang up, the communicator will call you back and may send emergency services to your location.

Did you know?

That 911 is available is available in 156 languages and available by text to members of the deaf, hard-of-hearing and speech impaired community who have pre-registered their cellphones with their wireless provider? Access to 911 and emergency services is available for free to all residents.

During 911 awareness week and all year, keep 911 for emergencies only so emergency services can reach you faster. To learn more about 911 services in the Region of Peel, please visit 911 Service – Region of Peel (peelregion.ca).

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