In December 2025, the Ontario government is changing how 9-1-1 calls are dispatched for the City of Guelph and Wellington County.
Why the change?
Ministry of Health Ambulance Communications Officers in the Cambridge Central Ambulance Communications Centre (CACC) will adopt the Medical Priority Dispatch System (MPDS), to improve the deployment of paramedic resources to meet patient needs by matching resources with the clinical situation and prioritizing the most urgent calls to
9-1-1.
The expansion of the Medical Priority Dispatch System is part of the Ontario government’s “Your Health” plan, to ensure that paramedic services provide the right care at the right time, while easing pressures on emergency departments.
This change means everyone with a life-threatening condition gets the fastest and highest level of out-of-hospital care possible when they need it. In the past, there was always a risk that paramedics would be responding to non-urgent calls when urgent ones came in, leaving people in need of critical care vulnerable due to longer waiting times.
How does the Medical Priority Dispatch System (MPDS) work?
The MPDS is a software system that allows Ambulance Communications Officers (call-takers and dispatchers) to determine which 9-1-1 callers need help first, based on how serious a person’s medical condition is.
The system has been used in more than 35,000 ambulance communications centres across more than 46 countries. It is a trusted tool for identifying life-threatening emergencies like:
- cardiac or respiratory arrests
- heart attacks
- severe allergic reactions
- unconsciousness
It can also determine serious but non-life-threatening emergencies, and minor illnesses and injuries.
The system is backed by decades of research and medical evidence, allowing operators to make the most informed decisions possible.
What are the expected benefits of this new system?
MPDS is expected to lead to significant benefits for the Guelph-Wellington Paramedic Service and the residents of Guelph and Wellington County. It will:
- give the most urgent calls top priority, resulting in better outcomes for patients.
- reduce the need for paramedics to drive lights-and-sirens, improving paramedic and public safety by reducing the risk of traffic-related accidents.
- assure best use of resources for emergency services.
Will non-urgent issues still get help?
Yes! 9-1-1 callers with lower-priority issues such as a broken bone with no bleeding, flu symptoms, a badly sprained ankle, and other non-urgent problems will still get help, but it may take longer than usual for paramedics to arrive. We know those people may be frustrated with the wait, however, know that if you are waiting it is because paramedics are assisting someone with a more urgent medical emergency in the community.
What to do if your situation changes while waiting?
An Ambulance Communications Officer will call you regularly to see if your symptoms have changed while you’re waiting. If your condition worsens, they will re-prioritize your call and send help. If there is a sudden change in condition, please immediately call 911 again.
What happens when you call 911?
Ambulance Communications Officers will ask more questions than they currently do and use those details and your responses to understand the true urgency of your call. These questions will only take a short amount of time and will help communications officers send the right help at the right time.
It is important that you provide as many details as possible. The more questions that you’re able to answer will ensure that the best most appropriate resource is sent to you. If you don’t answer the questions, then there is a chance that the call will be incorrectly assigned to a non-urgent call.
Be prepared to repeat some answers to questions
There are many responders from different organizations who work together to help you in an emergency. Each person has specific questions they’ve been trained to ask to determine how to approach your situation.
When you call 9-1-1, you’ll speak to:
- A 9-1-1 communicator, who is the first person to pick up the phone.
- An Ambulance Communications Officer will ask specific questions such as your location and specific problem.
The information that you provide will determine which emergency services will come to help you.
From police and firefighters to an emergency response paramedic or multiple paramedics in an ambulance, once with you, any of these emergency services personnel may repeat questions while they assess and treat you. All questions are relevant and helpful to the people who need the answers. Please be patient and answer them as clearly and completely as possible.
Answering questions, even the same ones over again, does not delay getting help to you.
Why are there delays in ambulance response time?
Some individuals may wait longer for paramedics to respond because there were others in our community who require more urgent attention.
If someone is having a heart attack, choking, or having another life-threatening emergency, they’ll receive help within minutes.
If someone is having an urgent but not life-threatening emergency, they may wait a little longer for an ambulance to arrive if paramedics are busy with other patients who need immediate care. For example, if an individual has broken their ankle, and someone else is having difficulty breathing, the next available paramedic will be sent to the person struggling to breathe.
This doesn’t mean all calls are not important. We know how stressful it can be waiting for paramedics to arrive and how difficult it can be to experience illness/injury or watch a loved one in pain, which is why Guelph-Wellington paramedics will get to you as quickly as possible. They want nothing more than to help you in your time of need.
How are non-urgent calls dispatched?
Non-urgent calls will be assigned to the best paramedic resource for your call. In situations when all paramedics are responding to higher priority calls, once the best resource is available, they will then be assigned to you.
Will paramedics be redirected from a non-urgent call to a more urgent call once they have been dispatched?
One of the benefits of MPDS is that it allows paramedics to be re-assigned to higher priority emergencies such as someone who is choking or is in cardiac arrest. What this means to less urgent patients is that another paramedic resource will be assigned to them.
If I call an ambulance, will I be seen sooner by a doctor in the Emergency Room?
No. Patients transported by Guelph-Wellington Paramedic Service are triaged by the hospital using the same system as all incoming patients. The triage scale works by measuring the severity of the patient’s needs.