New priority-based 9-1-1 system rolled out across Ontario [Video]

Not all medical calls are the same and a new 9-1-1 priority system being implemented in Northumberland Country and other parts of Ontario March 26 will ensure a child with a nosebleed won’t go to the front of the paramedic dispatch line over a senior suffering cardiac arrest, despite both medical emergencies being classified as ‘uncontrolled bleeding.’

The Ontario government is changing the way medical 9-1-1 calls are assigned and as of March 26, Northumberland Paramedics will be dispatched using the Medical Priority Dispatch System (MDPS) – an internationally used triage model backed by decades of research and medical evidence.

Similar to triage systems used in hospital emergency rooms, MPDS will help ensure the right paramedic resources get to the right person at the right time in the event of a medical emergency. Northumberland Paramedics’ transition to this system is part of a province-wide roll-out that will be fully implemented …