Manitoba’s Pine Creek First Nation introduces local 911 service

New initiatives at Manitoba’s Pine Creek First Nation will make it easier for emergency responders to help residents in need, says the community’s emergency management co-ordinator.

Everett McKay told Global News the community now has local 911 service — and it’s a vast improvement for both safety and peace of mind compared with the previous system.

“We had three communities we’d have to call — we’d call Winnipegosis, Swan River, Dauphin…. They all have different numbers, and sometimes it’s hard for people to have all of those numbers on hand,” McKay said.

“Now with 911, it’s a lot easier to get hold of them.”

McKay said Pine Creek, located north of Dauphin on the shore of Lake Winnipegosis, had to meet some criteria before the local emergency number was set up.

There’s no cellular service in the community, so members of the local fire department were given pagers, and a tower had to be set up so messages could be transmitted to the pagers.

The community also overhauled the numbering system for its homes, so emergency responders would be able to locate them more quickly.

“In the past, we had a lot of problems where the ambulance would have trouble finding a house — it would actually be driving back and forth to find a house, or in the wrong areas,” McKay said.

“So what we did was incorporate a new housing numbering system that was a lot easier to follow. We installed driveway numbers that are reflective … so when the ambulance comes, or RCMP, they have all that data now where all the housing locations are and their new numbers.

“For myself, as a member of the community, it gives me a sense of reassurance that my family, my kids, would be able to call 911 and get an ambulance or police department as quickly as possible, and we know they’d find our place easily. It’s a great thing for the community.”

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