Province introduces standards to improve 911 consistency in Alberta

EDMONTON — The provincial government has announced new standards for 911 in Alberta.

The standards, announced by Municipal Affairs Minister Shaye Anderson, apply to Public Safety Answering Points, who are the first point of contact people speak with when calling 911. The standards include establishing agreed-upon terminology, requiring centres to have a quality assurance plan, annual internal audit of processes and mandating centres have backup procedures in the event of an outage or disruption.

The standards also include performance targets that require calls to be answered with 15 seconds and transferred within 60 seconds after answering, 95 per cent of the time.

“Albertans should receive quality 911 service and know the emergency response system is there for them when they need it – no matter where in the province they live,” Anderson said in a news release. “I am proud that our new standards will ensure timely service, whether you live in Cardston or Calgary, Edmonton or Ensign.”