Calling 9-1-1 in Niagara Region? Be ready to tell a nurse why you need an ambulance

To that end, they said, “Effective immediately and until further notice, Niagara EMS is implementing pre-defined plans designed to maintain essential response levels.”

That means, dispatchers will send callers, whose situation are deemed less serious “to the Emergency Communication Nurse, where alternative care options will be discussed. This may mean some callers identified with non-life threatening emergencies may wait longer to speak to a nurse for secondary assessment.”

However, if it’s a serious, life-threatening situation, the region added, “Our dispatchers and paramedics are answering and responding to 911 calls as promptly as possible.”

But if it’s not considered serious, be prepared to wait. “Some non-life-threatening, not time-critical calls may take longer to service, with some callers waiting up to several hours for a response unit.”

And if the nurses determine alternative health care responses are called for – meaning simply it’s something the resident can deal themselves, “no transport resource will be sent to eligible calls.” Long story short: no emergency, no ambulance.