If you need emergency help in Niagara, call 9-1-1 (free from any cell or payphone). When you indicate it is a medical emergency to the 9-1-1 operator, your call will be transferred to the Niagara Emergency Medical Services Dispatch Centre.
Niagara Emergency Medical Services is made up of primary and advanced care paramedics and emergency medical dispatchers who are committed to providing high quality emergency pre-hospital medical care.
Pre-hospital care includes the emergency medical dispatchers dispatching an ambulance through the use of a priority system. They identify the nature and seriousness of the call and forward details to the responding paramedics who are en route. They also provide the caller with pre-arrival instructions.
The highly trained paramedics provide emergency medical care to stabilize a patient's condition at the scene and during transport to hospital.
Emergency care begins the moment you call 9-1-1
Sometimes it is difficult to know whether your medical problem is serious or not. If you have any doubts about whether you are experiencing a medical emergency, call 9-1-1.
Here are just a few examples of when you should call 9-1-1 to access emergency medical care:
In emergency situations, always call 9-1-1 if your labour is rapidly progressing and you don't think you can safely arrive at the nearest hospital before delivering. Also call 9-1-1 for other emergency situations or go to your nearest Emergency Department.
For the safety of everyone, always follow to rules of the roads if choosing to drive a patient to hospital.
Always call 9-1-1 or take your child to the nearest Emergency Department in an emergency. For the safety of everyone, please always follow to rules of the roads if choosing to drive a patient to hospital.
When calling 9-1-1, the Emergency Medical Dispatcher will ask the caller for the following information:
Once the location of the emergency has been confirmed, the paramedics are on their way. While the paramedics are enroute the dispatcher may also provide the caller important instructions about what to do prior to the ambulance getting there.
In a life-threatening situation, Niagara Emergency Medical Services immediately sends highly trained paramedics to the scene.
Where appropriate in the circumstances the Emergency Medical Services dispatcher will also notify the local fire and/or police services to respond to the call.
Our objective is to ensure trained help arrives on the scene as quickly as possible.
When the fire department arrives before Emergency Medical Services the firefighters are trained in first aid, CPR, and other advanced first aid procedures. They will assess the patient and provide basic care until the ambulance arrives.
At that time the paramedics will perform a full medical patient assessment and provide medical care on the scene and during transportation to the appropriate health care facility.
Whether patients arrive by ambulance, car, or on foot, they are triaged to ensure that the sickest patients are seen first.