Lifesaving response times reduced resulting from Markham’s dispatch agreement with BFES

MARKHAM, ON – March 15, 2023 – Markham Fire & Emergency Services (MFES) has improved its responsiveness with an average decrease in “call to customer” time of 60 seconds across the majority of incidents, meaning quicker arrival and more successful life-saving and recovery efforts. This time-savings is a result of a now one-year old dispatch service agreement between the City of Markham and Barrie Fire & Emergency Service (BFES) which sees BFES providing 24/7 emergency call-taking and dispatch service to MFES.

“While it has only been in use for one year, this service agreement has already proven tremendously impactful,” said Markham Mayor Frank Scarpitti. “Through it, we have been able to not only keep costs down but, more importantly, improve the customer experience for residents in their time of need.”

“The unique partnership between Barrie and Markham Fire & Emergency Services has been an overwhelming success through the use of shared dispatch services resulting in reduced operating costs and a better customer experience in a residents’ time of need,” said the City of Markham’s CAO Andy Taylor. "This successful partnership serves as an example of how municipalities can work together to streamline processes, align corporate objectives and deliver innovative solutions that save lives."

“Through this proactive partnership we have been able to drastically modernize many aspects of fire protection service delivery used at the City,” said Markham Fire & Emergency Services Chief Adam Grant. “This is important for many reasons – one being that we are able to respond faster and more efficiently to any call for assistance we receive, which in some cases can be life-altering. It also has us well positioned for the upcoming mandatory transition to Next Generation 9-1-1 (NG9-1-1) expected in 2024.”

Since the implementation of the service agreement, MFES has seen the following results: 

• Improved responsiveness. Preliminary data suggests an average decrease in “call to customer” time of 60 seconds across the majority of incidents, meaning our firefighters are on scene earlier during the most critical period of an incident. “Call to customer” is a measure of the time between someone calling 911 and requesting help, to our firefighters arriving on location. A reduction in “call to customer” time means a reduction in waiting for help to arrive. This time savings can be seen as a direct contributor to MFES providing even more successful life-saving and recovery efforts.
• The modernization of emergency services tools includes upgraded technology on all MFES firetrucks. Each firetruck is equipped with a tablet that allows firefighters to see information in real-time. Critical and potentially life-saving information is now received by firefighters as soon as it’s available allowing for better preparedness by the time they arrive on the scene.
• Simultaneous notification allows aligned emergency services to be connected and notified at the same time.

Firefighter accessing information in real-time using upgraded technology in an MFES truck.

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Markham Mayor Frank Scarpitti's Office:
At mayorscarpitti@markham.ca.

All other media inquiries / interview requests for the City of Markham: 
Kisha Powell, Media Relations & Communications Specialist at kpowell@markham.ca.

About Markham: Markham, an award-winning municipality with more than 353,000 residents and the largest of nine communities in York Region, is home to over 650 headquartered companies and more than 1,500 high tech and life science companies. Markham is a leader in attracting foreign direct investment with more than 234 foreign companies located in the City. Founded in the 1790s, today Markham is Canada’s most diverse community and enjoys a rich heritage, outstanding community planning and services, and a vibrant local economy. 
 

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