9-1-1 Communications

Call 9-1-1 in life-threatening situations or when there is immediate danger to life or property. For example:

1. An injury that requires medical attention (ie chest pains, bleeding, breathing problems)
2. A fire or smoke has been detected, requiring the Fire Department
3. A crime has just occurred, resulting in injury, potential injury or life-threatening situation, including domestic violence.
4. Reporting a suspected impaired driver.
5. A robbery or theft is being committed.
6. Someone is screaming for help.
7. A loud explosion or gunshot is heard.
8. A motor vehicle accident has occurred causing injuries.
9. Someone asks you to call 911 for an unknown situation

For non-emergency police calls:
Durham Region: 905-579-1520 or 1-888-579-1520
OPP: 1-888-310-1122

Call 905-579-1520 when a crime has occurred that requires police but the crime is not currently in progress, there is no immediate threat to life to life or property and there are no serious injuries. For exmaple: 

1. Theft of property that has already occurred.
2. Vandalism, egging houses, damage to vehicles.
3. Street parking complaints.
4. Any historic assaults (i.e. assaults that occurred weeks or years ago)
5. Noise complaints (i.e. barking dogs, loud stereos, construction noise)
6. General information about policing (i.e. to speak to an officer, fireman, or to ask for directions or information).
7. Complaints about a police officer.
8. Lost, stolen or found pets or property
9. To file a report (fraud)

Do you require Police Fire or Ambulance?

Please answer this question before you give any other information and be prepared to confirm your location, your name, your telephone number and the nature of your emergency.

Help Us Help You - Remember the six W's

• Where are you - tell the call taker exactly where you are standing, especially important when calling from a cellphone
• What are you seeing - give as much detailed information as possible
• When did this take place - if the incident is in progress let the call taker know immediately
• Who - give your full name, address and contact information
• Weapons - do you see one or is it implied that there may be one
• Witness - did you  or is there someone else who witnessed the incident
  
  

9-1-1 Calls From Cellphones

When calling 9-1-1 from a cellphone, only limited information is available to the Emergency call-taker. As a 9-1-1 cellular caller please:

- Give your location,
- Give your cellular telephone number, (including area code)
- Advise the situation. At this point you may be transferred to ambulance or fire if required.
- Await instructions from the call taker
- Stay on the line until advised by the call taker.
- Don't allow children to play with old cellphones. They can still call 9-1-1 so remove batteries and donate your old phone.

9-1-1 Calls From VoIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) Phones

If you purchase your home telephone service from your internet provider, 9-1-1 will not get your location or phone number when you call. As a VoIP caller please:

- Give your location. Include address and town or city as this will enable call taker to either handle the information or transfer you to the proper 9-1-1 centre
- Give your telephone number (including area code)
- Advise what the situation is. At this point you may be transferred to ambulance or fire if required.
- Await instructions from the call taker,
- Stay on the line until advised by the call taker.

Durham Region 9-1-1 processes over four hundred calls daily. If you receive a recorded message asking you to “stay on the line,” do not hang up. 

If the caller does not speak English, the call-taker will immediately link the telephone call to a telephone translation service, which can handle over 150 languages, within seconds.
TTY: 905-436-6642

Do not hang up!

If 9-1-1 is called from a landline in error, the caller should not hang up. If the line is disconnected, the call-taker will ring back the telephone number, and the phone line will be seized, not allowing disconnection. The landline will remain connected to the call-taker while emergency services respond. Police, Fire and Ambulance will be dispatched as a precaution if the call-taker cannot confirm that there is not an emergency.

If 9-1-1 is called from a cellphone in error, the caller should stay on the line and advise the call-taker the call was accidental. When the caller hangs up before voice contact is made, the call-taker has to call back and it takes up valuable time and resources, tying up a 9-1-1 line. 

lf you call 911 by mistake, please stay on the line, it saves precious time and could even save a life!