WHEN THE LUCK FAMILY IN CALGARY, ALBERTA, called for an ambulance, they used their voice-over-internet-phone service (VoIP) through their computer. Their 18-month-old infant was having difficulty breathing and they sensed it was an emergency.
Canadian regulations require VoIP services to operate a 911-type emergency call center which is where their call was handled. While taking the emergency, the phone line was disconnected but the call center had the Luck’s address of record on the screen. Unfortunately, the address that they had was two years outdated and an ambulance was sent to the Luck’s former home in Mississauga, near Toronto and more than 2,000 miles away.
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After waiting 30 minutes for an ambulance, they used a neighbor’s landline phone to call Calgary 911 and an ambulance was on the scene in less than 6 minutes. But by then the baby had died of a heart attack.
Several agencies along with Comwave Telecom, the VoIP provider, are investigating the incident and are promising to make any adjustments needed to prevent another similar incident. One of the primary glitches that happened was the connection failure before the operator could ask for their location. So they had to use the address-of-record which had never been updated.
The Calgary Herald reports:
Communications and technology professor Gordon Gow said the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission needs to start looking at VOIP services and public safety and may have to turn to regulations to address the issue.
“For many customers out there, a telephone is a telephone and an emergency is an emergency, and you dial 911,” said the University of Alberta professor.
This incident, he said, “reinforces the point that individuals are increasingly really responsible for their own personal safety and need to be aware of the limits of these technologies when they are using them.”
Canwest News Service has the STORY.
The National Post has MORE.
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