Some P.E.I. 911 callers getting recorded response, being put on hold

Some P.E.I. residents who call 911 in an emergency are hearing a recorded message and being put on hold.

While the province says it's not able to track how often that's happening, it's also quick to downplay any potential concerns.

"It's not a frequent occurrence, but it does happen," said Pat Kelly, provincial co-ordinator with P.E.I.'s Emergency Measures Organization.

"There [are] cases where we get an influx of calls, whether it be from a motor vehicle accident, or just multiple people calling in about an incident," he said, especially given the proliferation of cell phones in recent years.

"There might not be enough operators on duty at the time to answer all the calls."

Kelly said it's impossible to plan for when call volumes might suddenly spike: "We don't know when a motor vehicle accident is going to happen, or when three different emergencies are going to happen at once."

The province provided figures to CBC showing there were 9,065 calls to 911 in P.E.I. during the first three months of this year, and with only 50 of those calls, it took longer than 40 seconds to answer. But it's not clear whether that 50 number includes instances where the caller hung up after being put on hold.

Kelly says that in the past three months, P.E.I. 911 operators handled 9,000 calls. Of those, 18 took more than a minute to be answered. (Andrew Lupton/CBC)

Kelly said the recorded message can kick in after the call rings, unanswered, for about 30 seconds. But he said the service provider, Bell Canada, cannot provide figures on how often that takes place.

He said the message tells callers that all operators are busy, and to stay on the line.

"It's not an ideal situation," Kelly said. "But... 96 per cent of the time your calls are being answered in 30 seconds or less."

Multiple calls from CBC staff

CBC News began asking about the issue after three people who work for the corporation on P.E.I. called 911 about two separate emergencies over the period of a month. Neither incident was work-related.

All three people received the recorded message.

One of the callers said he was on hold for about 12 minutes. After he hung up, a 911 operator called him back about 10 minutes later.

Kelly said, however, the province is not aware of any 911 calls in the past three months that took more than 10 minutes to be answered.

Volume of calls rising

Call volumes to 911 have been increasing at a faster rate than the province's booming population.

According to annual reports from the P.E.I. Department of Justice and Public Safety, the number of 911 calls increased by 33 per cent over the three-year span from 2019-20 to 2022-23, with most of the growth coming from requests for an ambulance. The population growth was about 11.25 per cent during that time.

But there are discrepancies in the reported number of calls, including columns that don't add up. CBC News has asked the department to clarify.

Kelly said staffing numbers at the province's 911 call centre have not increased recently, but some staff have been working more hours.

That call centre is operated by Medacom Atlantic, a subsidiary of Medavie Health Services. When CBC News reached out to Medavie, it was told to contact the provincial government.

Matter of 'life and death,' says MLA

Interim Liberal leader Hal Perry said he himself received a recorded message when he called 911 to report an erratic driver while travelling from Tignish to Charlottetown during the recent sitting of the legislature.

'Every minute matters, and the ability to quickly summon medical assistance can mean the difference between life and death,' says interim Liberal leader Hal Perry, who got a recorded message himself once while calling 911 about an erratic driver. (Ken Linton/CBC)

"They did call me back, probably within five minutes. And I reported it, and by the time I reported it, that individual had already put the vehicle in the ditch," said Perry.

"Islanders deserve to have immediate access to live emergency responders in a crisis or when they're in distress.

"Every minute matters, and the ability to quickly summon medical assistance can mean the difference between life and death."

Upgrade coming, province says

P.E.I.'s 911 system is still based on copper phone lines, Kelly said, with the technology operated by Bell now 30 years old.

But he said the system is due to be replaced within the next year, with the service becoming internet-based.

Kelly said that change could let the province start tracking how many 911 callers get a recorded message. He also said it could make it possible for P.E.I. to divert calls to other 911 call centres in neighbouring provinces during high-volume periods.

He said the province has also been increasing the capacity of its secondary 911 call centre, which was in use during the pandemic and can be activated in an emergency.

But Kelly said there are no immediate plans to increase the province's capacity to deal with the increasing volume of calls, pointing out that a recorded message has been used to handle excess calls for decades.

"I'm not sure how anybody would plan for the unknown," Kelly said.