Don’t call 911 for weather reports or to inquire about current road conditions. It might seem like a ridiculous thing to write, but it is clearly a message that some need to hear given a media release issued by the Ontario Provincial Police this week informing folks that 911 is for emergencies, not for weather updates.
“Due to widespread weather-related incidents, including flooding, forest fires, extreme heat, and hazardous driving conditions, the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) urges the public to remain alert and informed by using the appropriate resources for timely updates,” read the opening paragraph of the media release issued by the OPP last week. “Please do not call 911 for road closures, weather updates, traffic conditions, or other non-emergency information. This ties up emergency lines and delays response to those that require emergency assistance.”
While the media release gave me a chuckle, simply because I would never imagine that anyone would call 911 for such things, it also caused me to wonder if people actually do call 911 for reasons other than actual emergencies, and after a little poking around online, as crazy as it might sound, yes they do.
“Nearly half of all 911 calls in the province are for non-emergencies. A new campaign, launched Thursday in Peel Region Headquarters in Brampton, hopes to change that,” the Brampton Guardian reported in May.
“In 2024, Peel’s 911 operators received over 767,000 calls, with more than 114,000 of those calls for non-emergencies, including accidental dials and frivolous inquiries,” Peel Region noted in a media release issued a few months ago.
“The 911 line is for life-threatening or urgent emergencies, yet we continue to see calls made for reasons ranging from minor inconveniences to non-emergency situations that can be handled through other channels,” said Laura Smith, director of the Windsor Police Emergency 911 Centre team in an article published by CTV News recently. “Calls for lost items, noise complaints, or even pocket dials take time away from real emergencies. It’s critical that we ensure 911 lines remain open for those in urgent need for police, fire, or ambulance.”
Though the 911 service has been with us for most of my life, beginning in the early 1970s in Ontario, I have fortunately only had to call that number once, about 30 years ago when a neighbour’s house was on fire.
The 911 service is a handy service to have if used correctly. Many from my generation grew up with magnets on our fridges that included the local numbers for the fire department, the police, and the ambulance, along with 911 which we were all taught was to be used only in emergency situations. So, if you had a cat stuck in a tree, you would call the local fire department number, or if you wanted to report a stolen bicycle you would call the number for the local police department. But if there was a tragic auto accident, or if Grandpa was having a heart attack, you didn’t run to the fridge to find the number for the ambulance, you called 911, an easy number to remember, particularly in the chaos of a true emergency.
Why anyone would call 911 to inquire about the weather, or to report a missing bicycle is beyond me, but apparently that happens more often than most of us realize, and that can hamper a response to a true life and death emergency.
In a true emergency when you call 911 you expect to be able to speak to a 911 operator immediately, and for the appropriate emergency services to be dispatched quickly. That is the reason the 911 service was created after all. And it works well if used properly.
As was noted in the Brampton Guardian article I mentioned earlier, “According to the ESSC (the provincial Emergency Services Steering Committee ), 911 operators across the province are under enormous strain to manage ever-growing call volumes, with about half of the calls being non-emergencies such as pocket dials, minor collisions, noise complaints and even incorrect restaurant orders. People should call 911 for emergencies such as serious medical issues, fires, crimes in progress and serious collisions, said the ESSC.”
So don’t call 911 if it isn’t a true emergency. Get yourself a piece of paper, look up the local non-emergency numbers and jot them down, maybe even put that piece of paper on your fridge, or save the numbers in your mobile phone. You might never need to use any of those numbers, but if you do, you will know where to find them, and you will save misusing the 911 service.
As part of last week’s media release, the OPP provided a list of numbers and websites that people can turn to if they need a weather or traffic update, which I will also share on this page:
- Weather forecasts and alerts: weather.gc.ca and theweathernetwork.com
- Road closures and traffic conditions: 511on.ca and municipal511.ca
- Marine conditions: weather.gc.ca/marine
- Forest fires: ontario.ca/page/forest-fires and @ONforestfires on social media
- Emergencies: Call 911
- Non-emergencies (e.g., reporting traffic complaints, suspicious activity): call 1-888-310-1122
It might seem like common sense, and I must admit, I would never have thought that I would write this in an editorial, but don’t call 911 to inquire about the weather, and don’t call 911 to ask about road conditions – only use 911 in the case of a true emergency.
