An Ontario man whose brother died when his call to 911 was dropped and left uninvestigated is urging the provincial government to reform the rules governing call takers in a bid to make sure the tragedy is never repeated.
In August 2024, Ralph Buerger called 911 in Niagara Region, desperate for emergency medical help, but was unable to speak in a call that lasted for 35 seconds.
A recording of the call given to his family appears to feature a sound which could be someone falling.
The brief call, however, did not trigger a wellness check from police or paramedics, and Ralph, 59, was found dead in the morning.
Ever since, his two siblings have been seeking justice.
Rick Buerger and Christine Stark have tried to get answers from Niagara Regional Police and various oversight bodies, but say they’ve been blocked at every turn.
Recently, they gathered signatures for a petition to the provincial government, begging for an overhaul to the rules to make sure call takers never miss signs like their brother’s attempts to reach 911.
“My brother, Ralph Buerger, lost his life because his call for help went unheard,” the petition put together by Rick reads. “He made a desperate 911 call, hoping to get assistance, but tragically, there was no response.”
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Through his attempts to get answers from Niagara Regional Police, Rick said he’s concerned call takers may not be provided with adequate noise-cancelling headphones or have their hearing regularly tested.
Those two changes, he contends, could have been the difference when his brother called.
“In Ralph’s memory, it’s crucial that steps are taken to prevent similar tragedies. Enhancing the hearing capabilities of call takers could significantly improve emergency response outcomes,” Rick wrote.
“Please, let’s ensure that no other family has to endure what ours did, losing a loved one when help was right there, but unheard.”
The petition drew more than 1,400 signatures from residents in Niagara Region and was tabled at Queen’s Park in mid-April by local NDP MPP Jeff Burch.
“What happened to Ralph Buerger is heartbreaking and deeply troubling,” he said in a statement.
“Folks need to know that when they call 911, help will come. The government should take these concerns seriously and ensure operators have the resources, equipment, training, and standards they need, so no other family is left searching for answers.”
Burch said he had also raised the issue “directly” with Solicitor General Michael Kerzner.
His office, however, said it had not received the petition.
“Our government is investing over $208 million support emergency communication centres to transition to NG9-1-1,” a spokesperson for the solicitor general wrote in a statement.
“NG9-1-1 will identify GPS coordinates to better identify the location of the caller, resulting in faster and more informed emergency response and addressing past coroner inquest recommendations. It will also enable the public to send and receive real-time text messages with 9-1-1 communications centres, enabling forms of communication when a call is not possible.”
A spokesperson for Niagara Regional Police said officers had met with Ralph’s family, but offered no further details.
Rick and his sister Christine have previously said the local police force hasn’t helped with their requests, blocking an attempt to present to the police board and forcing them to file a freedom of information request to hear the 911 call.
I hope this is not the future for my son. He is non verbal autistic if he ever needed help in his future, does this mean he won’t get help because he can’t ask for it? I hope this is an eye opener for future 911 operator training, this is very concerning!
Noise canceling headphones are not a solution. In a 911 centre, call takers need to be able to hear what’s going on around them. Calls are received for the same issue at the same time to multiple call takers. If you can hear that the person two desks away has a similar call, it can speed up the collection of information. 911 call takers are all trained to listen for noises on the phone when someone calls and doesn’t speak. The family listening to the call heard what they expected to hear because they knew what the outcome was. I can guarantee that the 911 call taker was also listening.
I was a 911 call taker and my service did not provide hearing aids or dentures in our medical plan. Two things I contend a communications operator need to perform their job.
We need to have a code, like SOS that can be used for people that cannot verbally communicate if they call 911. Something like four 1’s pressed which lets the 911 operator know that someone is on the line, needs help but cannot communicate verbally. Also, if you can, call from a landline phone as they can tell your location from that.
Depending on 911 is akin to hoping to win the lottery.
You admitted that your brother was “unable to speak” but you want the calltakers to get hearing tests every year?
Huh?
Imagine an article about someone dying because 911 didn’t respond somehow gets turned into something about race… honestly, some of you people have poop for brains and should probably keep your brain farts to yourself.
Where does DEI come in, I have never made a 911 call and heard a heavily accented person answer.
This is about people not doing their jobs properly, an issue that has become prominent in this country. Everyone is just chilling with no sense of urgency to anything.
All calls should be investigated. All of them. If we subscribe to the “boy who called wolf” mentality, innocent people suffer. Like Ralph, and likely countless others.
In toronto I called 911 and no one came. Till police came because our car was blocking traffic. My fiance died of heart attack. Police called and paramedics came. But that was like half an hour later. To this day I am hurt
It also don’t help people screaming and panicking so nobody can understand them…
The government the police judge etc are all just people stealing our money. They’re not providing an actual services. Why won’t the police talk to them they work for us and we demand they answer. Why wouldn’t you do everything you could to help these people. Because you don’t care and are probably at fault.
They do not care about Canadians. Not unless you’re new. Then you get treated like royalty on the old Canadians dime
It’s sad that our elected officials cannot pre-concieve the need to adapt to new technologies sooner than the decades long saga that is being able to send messages and geolocation details to emergency services.
How is it not law that every 911 call is to be investigated? That’s just common sense.
Probably another black DEI woman or Indian woman who just wants the paycheck to sit on their ass.