Sometime between June and September of this year, Essex Windsor EMS will switch to a new ambulance dispatch system after the Ministry of Health agreed to fast-track the move.
The incoming Medical Priority Dispatch System is supposed to be more efficient and ensure paramedics are dispatched faster to the most urgent life-threatening emergencies. It'll replace the current Dispatch Priority Card Index system.
"It ensures that someone who is experiencing an emergent and life-threatening event, such as a person in cardiac arrest, a complete airway obstruction, or someone who is unconscious, receives an ambulance ahead of someone with a non-life-threatening injury," said EMS Chief Justin Lammers. "That's the right thing for any community, and it's the right thing for ours."
Ambulance Communications Officers will work within the Windsor Central Ambulance Communications Centre to better triage calls using software that relies on decades of practical evidence and medical research.
"The people who answer your 911 call will now gather more detailed information right at the start," explained Lammers. "They'll ask you more questions than you may be used to. That's intentional. Those questions help determine the true urgency of the situation, so that ambulances can be sent where they are needed most, when they are needed most."
That means those experiencing non-life-threatening injuries may have to wait longer for an ambulance, especially when resources are stretched.
"This isn't a flaw in the system. It's the system working exactly as intended to protect lives and preserve critical EMS resources for the people who need them most," said Lammers.
A dozen other paramedic services in Ontario have made the switch, including Ottawa, Mississauga, the Waterloo Region, and Kingston. More are in the queue to make the switch soon.
Essex Windsor EMS had expected to make the switch in February 2027.
