Claudia Culley
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Gabriola Sounder
Primary safety answering point services, which receive 9-1-1 calls and dispatch emergency resources, provided by Emergency Communications for British Columbia Incorporated (E-COMM) have been renewed for this year for the Regional District of Nanaimo (RDN), City of Nanaimo and Cowichan Valley Regional District.
E-COMM is B.C.’s largest 9-1-1 call centre and is responsible for 99 per cent of primary safety answer point calls in the province, which is the equivalent of two million calls per year. It provides 9-1-1 call answer services in 25 regional districts and operates in a post-disaster facility on the Lower Mainland.
In B.C., local governments are responsible for establishing the delivery of 9-1-1 services. There are two 9-1-1 dispatch services in the RDN — Central Island 911, which is for Electoral Areas A, B, C and the District of Lantzville, and North Island 911, which oversees Electoral Areas E, F, G, H, the City of Parksville and the Town of Qualicum Beach.
For the past 10 years, E-COMM has been providing primary safety answer point services for the Central Island 9-1-1 Partnership, which the RDN, City of Nanaimo, and Cowichan Valley Regional District are all partners in. These local governments share and support 9-1-1 primary safety answer point services. Before the agreement with E-COMM, these services were provided by the Nanaimo RCMP Operations Communication Centre.
The fee for E-COMM primary safety answer point services for one year is $522,510. This cost has previously been offset by a $0.47 call answer levy charged to landline telephone users in the RDN, City of Nanaimo, and Cowichan Valley Regional District.
The call answer levy was first introduced in 1999.
The cost breakdown of the Central Island 911 Service Partnership Agreement has and continues to be based on population. The City of Nanaimo contributes to 48 per cent of the cost, while the Cowichan Valley Regional District and RDN make up 43 per cent and 9 per cent respectively.
Under the renewed agreement, E-COMM will continue to provide primary safety answering point services to the RDN, City of Nanaimo, and Cowichan Valley Regional District until the end of this year.
The agreement may be extended or renewed based on review by the RDN board.
To learn more about E-COMM, visit www.ecomm911.ca
