The County of Brant announced on Monday, October 20, 2025, that the Brant-Brantford Paramedic Services will be implementing a new system for 911 medical calls in early November.
Starting on November 5, the Brant-Brantford Paramedic Services and the Hamilton Central Ambulance Communications Centre, which dispatches emergency medical services in the County of Brant and the City of Brantford, will begin using the Medical Priority Dispatch System (MPDS).
MPDS is designed to help ensure that the most critically ill and injured patients receive care as quickly as possible. The evidence-based system is currently being used in more than 35,000 ambulance communication centres across 46 countries, including major Ontario regions like Ottawa, Peel, Halton, York, Niagara and Toronto.
“This important change is about saving lives, managing our resources more effectively, and ensuring emergency medical capacity is preserved for those who need it most,” said Neil Vanderpost, Acting Chief for Brant-Brantford Paramedic Services. “It’s about providing the right care, to the right patients, at the right time.”
What residents can expect when they call 911 for a medical emergency as of November 5:
- You may be asked more detailed questions about the patient’s condition and location.
- If you make a call about a potentially life-threatening medical emergency such as cardiac or stroke symptoms, severe bleeding or trauma, or loss of consciousness, paramedics will arrive as immediately as possible, as they will be en route while you provide more information about the patient’s condition to the Communication Centre.
- Response times may be longer, depending on the patient’s condition and available resources, for less urgent or non-life-threatening situations,
- Emergency Medical Dispatchers, who have received extensive training to use the new system, will remain in contact with the caller to provide support and monitor patient conditions until help arrives.
“Our commitment to the community remains unchanged,” said Vanderpost. “If you call 911, we will be there – it may just take a little longer if your situation can safely wait.”
For more information about Brant-Brantford Paramedic Services, including guidance on when to call 911 and alternative non-urgent care options, visit brant.ca/Paramedics.
More about MPDS
MPDS helps dispatchers prioritize calls based on urgency and matches the right resources to the right patients. It includes thorough quality assurance measures to ensure high standards of care and safety for all patients.
The system is expected to soon be the provincial standard for emergency medical dispatch in Ontario.
Kimberly De Jong’s reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative.The funding allows her to report rural and agricultural stories from Blandford-Blenheim and Brant County. Reach her at kimberly.dejong@brantbeacon.ca.
