Calling 911 in Niagara
If you need emergency help, call 911 — it's free and available 24 / 7. The 911 operator will ask you if you need police, fire or ambulace. If you say ambulance, your call will be transferred to the Niagara Emergency Medical Services Dispatch Centre.
When to call 911
Here are just a few examples of when you should call 911 to access emergency medical care. If you have any doubt about whether you're experiencing a medical emergency, call 911.
Heart and stroke symptoms
- Pain or tightness in the chest
- Sudden severe headache or vision problems
- Weakness, numbness or tingling in the face, arm or leg
- Trouble speaking or dizziness
Injuries and trauma
- Uncontrolled bleeding
- Severe pain
- Choking or difficulty breathing
- Head injuries
- Serious burns
- Major bone fractures or fractures with bleeding
- Drowning
Other medical emergencies
- Severe stomach pain
- Unresponsiveness or coma
- Drug overdose
- High fever with difficulty breathing or with a seizure
- Unexpected seizure
- Heat stroke
What to tell the dispatcher
The dispatcher will stay on the line until paramedics arrive and will ask for:
- Address of the emergency
- Phone number you're calling from
- Exactly what happened
- Age of the patient
- Whether the person is awake and breathing
They'll also give you first aid, labour and delivery, or CPR instructions based on the situation.
How to help while you wait
- Gather information on the patient, including medical history, medications and known allergies
- Clear a path to the patient — move furniture, unlock doors
- Make sure your house number is clearly visible from the street, and turn on outside lights at night
- If you live in an apartment, have someone meet the ambulance at the lobby door and have the elevator ready
- Don't move the patient, unless life is threatened
How Niagara EMS responds
When you call, the dispatcher asks a series of questions to quickly identify the location, nature and severity of the emergency.
If it's a life-threatening, time-critical emergency, your call is given the highest priority and paramedics are sent to the scene right away. The dispatcher may also notify local fire and / or police services to respond, and will give you instructions to follow until help arrives.
If your health need isn't life-threatening or time-critical, you may be offered other options to meet your needs, such as speaking with a registered nurse based in the Niagara EMS dispatch centre.
Our goal is to get trained help to the scene as quickly as possible. If firefighters arrive before the ambulance, they're trained in first aid, CPR and other advanced first aid procedures, and will assess the patient and provide basic care until paramedics arrive. Paramedics then perform a full medical assessment and provide care on scene and during transport to the appropriate health care facility.
Whether patients arrive by ambulance, car or on foot, they're triaged so the most serious cases are seen first.
Become a paramedic
Learn about certification requirements and the path to joining Niagara Emergency Medical Services as a paramedic.