911 dispatch needs to be changed, Calgary fire chief says

Chief Steve Dongworth of the Calgary Fire Department is the latest official to formally protest the UCP government's move to a centralized EMS dispatch system.

The head of Calgary's fire department is formally adding his voice to a movement to change Alberta's emergency dispatch system.

In a year-end interview, Chief Steve Dongworth says he continues to see mistakes being made by the current consolidated dispatch system.

In 2020, Alberta Health Services, under the direction of the UCP government, announced it would be handling 911 calls in Calgary, Lethbridge, Red Deer and Wood Buffalo in one of three existing dispatch centres.

Many municipal leaders and first responders felt the move was a mistake – something that would lead to longer wait times and "negative patient outcomes."

• Broken System: Alberta's EMS Crisis

Dongworth agreed with those statements.

"That's been a bit of an ongoing challenge for us," he told CTV News on Monday. "I'm not sure how we fix it, you know, there has to be a will to fix it.

"I think, ultimately, the best way to fix it is to move it back into a consolidated centre where they literally sit alongside police and fire dispatchers and call takers and can resolve problems on the spot, in a very immediate sense, as opposed to it being a phone call away and just much more challenging."

Dongworth says the previous system was built on co-ordination between first responders.

"When all the three services were together ... people could just walk across and talk to someone about a challenge that they're potentially having with a call."

During last month's budget talks, Dongworth admitted that firefighters are being sent to medical calls in the place of EMS and that's part of the reason he wants to see more funding for the department to help with staffing.

In June, Mayor Jyoti Gondek placed blame for the death of a senior squarely on Alberta's consolidated dispatch system.

"They need to go back to the system that existed that was world-class. We need to go back to it or we will lose more lives," she said.

When it was introduced, the UCP government said the new system would save the province approximately $6 million per year.