Blog | 911 Emergency Dispatcher | 911 Emergency Dispatch

Vancouver, B.C – E-Comm continues to see an influx of calls related to COVID-19, particularly over the weekends, as many callers look to report house parties, their neighbours having guests or concerns about businesses not adhering to public health orders such as restaurants serving alcohol past 10 pm. It’s important to remember that these calls do not belong on 9-1-1 as they tie up important resources from people who may be experiencing life or death emergencies. Instead of dialing 9-1-1, callers looking to report concerns related to COVID restrictions should reach out to their local bylaw office or call their local police non-emergency number, if their bylaw office is unavailable. In Vancouver, you can make these reports by calling 3-1-1 or using the VanConnect app. A list of police and fire non-emergency numbers in B.C. is available at nonemergency.ca

Unfortunately, we are also seeing more callers taking out their frustrations on our staff. Our call takers need to help first responders determine if there are any COVID-related risks to them or to the caller before the first responders arrive on scene – this means call takers may need to ask some additional questions about the situation at hand. We understand that people are feeling anxious and stressed out, but we ask everyone to try to recognize that the voices you hear on the other end of the phone are your friends, your family members, your neighbours, and they are doing everything they can to get you help as quickly as possible.

About E-Comm

E-Comm is the first point of contact for 9-1-1 callers in 25 regional districts in British Columbia and provides dispatch services for more than 70 police agencies and fire departments. E‐Comm also owns and operates the largest multi‐jurisdictional, tri‐service, wide‐area radio network in the province used by police, fire and ambulance personnel throughout Metro Vancouver and parts of the Fraser Valley. In 2019, E-Comm received more than 1.84 million 9-1-1 calls in B.C. and answered 97 per cent of those calls in five seconds or less.

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Media Contact

[email protected]
604-215-6248

E-Comm is excited to welcome Stephen Thatcher to our team as the new Vice-President of Operations starting January 25, 2021.

Stephen has been a member of the RCMP for 28 years and is currently in the role of Assistant Commissioner and Lower Mainland District Commander. Throughout his career with the RCMP, he has served in a number of operational, operational support and administrative roles across B.C and at national headquarters in Ottawa. His extensive and impressive background in policing and on-the-job experience will strengthen E-Comm’s leadership help support our employees in Operations.

In this new role, Stephen will help lead our Emergency Communications Centre operations through the remainder of the pandemic, while simultaneously helping advance our public safety initiatives.

Vancouver, B.C.—E-Comm announced its new Board of Directors today, following the company’s Annual General Meeting. Because of physical distancing measures required during the COVID-19 pandemic, E-Comm held its Annual General Meeting virtually, for the first time in the company’s 21-year history.

Shareholders have named six new board members, with the remaining members designated by shareholders reconfirmed by their nominating entities for another term. The shareholder nominated directors appointed four independent directors:  incumbents Doug Campbell, Barry Forbes and Denise Nawata, together with Nancy Kotani, newly elected as an independent director after a search process overseen by the Company’s Governance Committee.

Doug Campbell returns as Board Chair, a position he has held since 2016. During today’s online meeting, Campbell acknowledged the exceptional work of E-Comm staff and the first-responder community during the COVID-19 pandemic. “On behalf of the Board, I want to thank everyone at E-Comm for their ongoing dedication and efforts to provide continuous emergency communications services to the citizens of our province and first responders in these exceptional and unusual circumstances,” said Campbell. “Whatever the new norm brings us, we know our professional emergency communications team is ready for the task.”

The Board of Directors is responsible for overseeing the company’s strategic planning and direction, finances and operating results. Management is accountable to the Board of Directors for day-to-day operations and administration.

E-Comm shareholders nominate Board members who provide extensive knowledge and experience to the company through their work on the Board and as members of the Board’s standing committees.

2020-2021 E-Comm Board of Directors

Independent Directors nominated by the E-Comm Board

Doug Campbell	Board Chair
Barry Forbes
Nancy Kotani
Denise Nawata

 

Directors	Nominee of
Aniz Alani	City of Abbotsford
Lori Halls	Provincial Government
Lois Karr	RCMP
Joe Keithley	Cities of Burnaby, Coquitlam, New Westminster, Port Coquitlam, Port Moody, Village of Belcarra
Melanie Kerr	City of Delta/Delta Police Board
Warren Lemcke	Vancouver Police Board
Neil Lilley	BC Emergency Health Services
Gayle Martin	Cities of Langley, Surrey and White Rock, Township of Langley
Bill McNulty	City of Richmond
Paul Mochrie	City of Vancouver
Mike Morden	Cities of Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows
Paul Mochrie	City of Vancouver
Mark Sieben	Provincial Government
Richard Walton	City of North Vancouver, District of North Vancouver, District of West Vancouver, Village of Lions Bay
Mike Welte	Independent Police Boards (Abbotsford, New Westminster, Port Moody, Transit Police, West Vancouver)

A second board seat, nominated by the Cities of Burnaby, Coquitlam, New Westminster, Port Coquitlam, Port Moody and Village of Belcarra, is to be filled later.

About E-Comm

E-Comm is the first point of contact for 9-1-1 callers in 25 regional districts in British Columbia and provides dispatch services for more than 70 police agencies and fire departments. E‐Comm also owns and operates the largest multi‐jurisdictional, tri‐service, wide‐area radio network in the province used by police, fire and ambulance personnel throughout Metro Vancouver and parts of the Fraser Valley. In 2019, E-Comm received more than 1.84 million 9-1-1 calls in B.C. and answered 97 per cent of those calls in five seconds or less.

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Media Contact

Jasmine Bradley
E-Comm Corporate Communications
604.215.6248

Annual General Meeting set for September

Vancouver, B.C., June 25, 2020 – From opening the South Island 9-1-1/Police Dispatch Centre, to finalizing its new strategic plan, to marking 20 years of service, 2019 was a year of important milestones for E-Comm as the company worked with its public safety partners to deliver exceptional emergency communications to British Columbians and first responders.

In E-Comm’s 2019 Annual Report published today, the company notes the extensive work completed last year on its new strategic plan has helped guide E-Comm with the challenges of operating emergency communications services during the current global health crisis.

“As we began 2020, E-Comm staff, like all first-responder, health care and other essential service workers, had to adapt and deal with the professional and personal demands of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Oliver Grüter-Andrew, E-Comm President and CEO.  “We continue to adapt to changing conditions as we deliver on our commitments to serve the citizens of our province.”

E-Comm has postponed its Annual General Meeting until September 17 and is exploring ways to hold the meeting virtually under current public health protocols in B.C. E-Comm will announce the 2020-21 Board of Directors in September. The Board provides governance to E-Comm and is responsible for overseeing the company’s strategic direction, finances and operating results. Management is accountable to the Board for E-Comm’s day-to-day operations and administration.

About E-Comm

E-Comm is the first point of contact for 9-1-1 callers in 25 regional districts in British Columbia and provides dispatch services for more than 70 police agencies and fire departments. E‐Comm also owns and operates the largest multi‐jurisdictional, tri‐service, wide‐area radio network in the province used by police, fire and ambulance personnel throughout Metro Vancouver and parts of the Fraser Valley. In 2019, E-Comm received more than 1.84 million 9-1-1 calls in B.C. and answered 97 per cent of those calls in five seconds or less.

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Media Contact

Kelly Furey
E-Comm Corporate Communications

Abbotsford Fire Rescue Service firefighters are now communicating on the E-Comm Wide-Area Radio Network, after joining the system on May 27, 2020.

Fire Chief Don Beer made the department’s first broadcast on the digital system and, for the first time, was able to use his radio to communicate directly with Abbotsford Police Chief Mike Serr. Interoperability between police, fire and ambulance personnel within a community land across municipal boundaries is a key feature of the E-Comm radio system, which has its roots from the 1994 Stanley Cup Riot.

On June 14, 1994, after the Vancouver Canucks lost game seven of the Stanley Cup final, a riot erupted on the streets of downtown Vancouver. The Vancouver Police Department’s radio system was unable to handle the increase in radio traffic as police officers, firefighters and paramedics responded to the chaos. In addition, the agencies couldn’t communicate with each other to coordinate their response, as they were on different radio systems. The incident led to the birth of E-Comm and a new regional radio system.

Fast forward to 2020: Abbotsford Fire Rescue joins three dozen agencies in the Lower Mainland on the E-Comm radio network.

BC Emergency Health Services within Metro Vancouver and Abbotsford, all police agencies in Metro Vancouver and Abbotsford and 16 fire departments in Metro Vancouver use the E-Comm Wide-Area Radio Network. The network has about 10,000 activate or available radios. In 2019, firefighters, police officers and paramedics made 48.9 million transmissions on the network.

Read more about Abbotsford Fire Rescue joining the network.

Find out more about the network and E-Comm’s technology services.