S-2.3, r. 2 - Regulation respecting standards, specifications and quality criteria applicable to 9-1-1 emergency centres and to certain secondary emergency call centres

Replaced on 1 January 2024

This document has official status.

chapter S-2.3, r. 2

Regulation respecting standards, specifications and quality criteria applicable to 9-1-1 emergency centres and to certain secondary emergency call centres

Civil Protection Act

(chapter S-2.3, s. 52.4).

Replaced, O.C. 1611-2023, 2023 G.O. 2, 2865; eff. 2024-01-01; see chapter S-2.3, r. 2.1.

CHAPTER I APPLICATION

1. This Regulation determines the standards, specifications and quality criteria applicable to 9-1-1 emergency centres. It also determines certain standards and specifications and certain quality criteria applicable to secondary emergency call centres, except health communication centres within the meaning of the Act respecting prehospital emergency services (chapter S-6.2).

O.C. 1042-2010, s. 1.

CHAPTER II LOCATION, IDENTIFICATION AND ACCESS TO THE 9-1-1 EMERGENCY CENTRE

2. A 9-1-1 emergency centre must not be located in an industrial zone or in another place with known disaster risks, as defined in section 2 of the Civil Protection Act (chapter S-2.3).

Despite the foregoing, a centre existing on 30 December 2010, that is located in an industrial zone or in another place with the risks referred to in the first paragraph, must assess the risks and provide, where applicable, compensatory measures.

Where a centre, as a result of an amendment to a zoning by-law or the occurrence of a special event, is located in an industrial zone or in another place with disaster risks, the centre must assess the risks and provide, where applicable, compensatory measures.

O.C. 1042-2010, s. 2.

3. A 9-1-1 emergency centre must not be identified, outside or inside the building where it is located. It must not enter its address in telephone directories or on any other medium.

O.C. 1042-2010, s. 3.

4. A 9-1-1 emergency centre must provide safety and protection measures against intrusion including

(1)  limiting, only to the persons authorized thereto, access to the premises used for processing emergency calls and those used for the equipment necessary for its operations; and

(2)  holding a register of the times of entry and exit of suppliers and visitors who have access to the premises and ensure that they are accompanied or under constant supervision during their visit.

Despite the foregoing, if safety is not compromised, the 9-1-1 emergency centre may allow a supplier or a visitor to have access to the premises referred to in subparagraph 1 of the first paragraph without being accompanied or under constant supervision.

O.C. 1042-2010, s. 4.

CHAPTER III BUILDING AND EQUIPMENT

DIVISION I BUILDING

5. A 9-1-1 emergency centre must

(1)  be situated in a building that, at the time of its installation, complies with the standards applicable to post-disaster buildings, according to the definition made applicable by Chapter I of the Construction Code (chapter B-1.1, r. 2);

(2)  ensure that the building in which it is situated complies with those standards if it undergoes major alterations;

(3)  be situated in a building equipped with a fire alarm and detection system, a heat detector, a smoke detector and a carbon monoxide detector and fire extinguishing equipment; and

(4)  have a control device for the heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems that allows to shut the air intake.

O.C. 1042-2010, s. 5.

6. The premises used for processing emergency calls and those used for the equipment necessary for the operations of a 9-1-1 emergency centre must be situated above the first floor of a building.

The premises must

(1)  have continuous and uninterrupted electrical power including dedicated electrical circuits, uninterruptible power supply, a generator functional at all times and an external plug or any other safe device that allows the connection of a generator; and

(2)  be equipped with fire extinguishing equipment to ensure protection of the computer and electronic equipment.

The centre must test its electric power system and generator every 3 months.

O.C. 1042-2010, s. 6.

DIVISION II EQUIPMENT

7. A 9-1-1 emergency centre and a secondary emergency call centre must

(1)  have the telephone and computer equipment enabling to receive and process the information provided by the Public Emergency Reporting Service; and

(2)  ensure that the components of their telephone and computer systems are synchronized at all times with the official time of the National Research Council of Canada.

O.C. 1042-2010, s. 7.

8. A 9-1-1 emergency centre must

(1)  have at least 2 separate points of access to the building for input cables or a device able to overcome transmission defects of emergency calls;

(2)  have enough telephone lines to respond to the emergency calls it receives;

(3)  equip at least 2 work stations of emergency call operators with a teletypewriter or text telephone device for the Deaf (TTY) or a device integrated into the calling card system, in order to respond to calls from the hearing impaired, and test those devices on a weekly basis;

(4)  have access to a multilingual service;

(5)  allow access at all times, for each work station of emergency call operators, to geomatics tools for the search of addresses and locations, the search by spatial coordinates, spatial and cartographic analysis and for the reception, processing and transfer of geographic information related to an event; and

(6)  set up tools to protect computers from outside attacks.

O.C. 1042-2010, s. 8.

CHAPTER IV LEVEL OF SERVICE

DIVISION I QUALITY OF SERVICE

9. A 9-1-1 emergency centre must ensure that a minimum of 2 emergency call operators, including a person in charge of operations, are present at all times.

O.C. 1042-2010, s. 9.

10. A 9-1-1 emergency centre and a secondary emergency call centre must

(1)  provide emergency call services every day of the week, 24 hours a day;

(2)  ensure that all emergency calls are answered in French or English, as the case may be; and

(3)  respond to emergency calls within 10 seconds in at least 90% of the cases, on a monthly basis, unless special circumstances justify a longer delay.

The average time for processing wireline calls passing through the Public Emergency Reporting Service and forwarded by the 9-1-1 emergency centre to a secondary emergency call centre must be no more than 60 seconds.

O.C. 1042-2010, s. 10.

11. A 9-1-1 emergency centre and a secondary emergency call centre to which the emergency centre transfers mainly emergency calls and geographic information relating thereto, where applicable, must enter into memoranda of understanding to determine, for each type of event, the emergency services required on a priority basis and the related operational procedures.

O.C. 1042-2010, s. 11.

12. A 9-1-1 emergency centre must ensure, for every emergency call it receives, that a calling card is produced and contains, when available,

(1)  the caller’s contact information;

(2)  the date of the call;

(3)  the location of the event;

(4)  the time of the incoming call at the 9-1-1 emergency centre;

(5)  the nature of the call;

(6)  the descriptive and geographic information used to locate the caller; and

(7)  the name of the body to which the call was forwarded.

O.C. 1042-2010, s. 12.

13. A 9-1-1 emergency centre must

(1)  have a recording and conservation system of emergency calls in speaking mode and calling cards pertaining to them and keep the recordings and calling cards for at least 38 months after the date on which those calls were received;

(2)  set up a procedure to ensure the quality of services rendered to the population and to the responders who were called, which provides for the verification of calling cards and the listening of recordings; and

(3)  ensure the integrity of the chain of custody of the recordings and calling cards.

O.C. 1042-2010, s. 13.

14. A 9-1-1 emergency centre must take the necessary measures to ensure the confidentiality of the information held by it.

O.C. 1042-2010, s. 14.

15. A 9-1-1 emergency centre must set up a procedure for processing complaints. The procedure provides that the response to a complaint must be provided within 20 working days or, failing that, that the person who filed a complaint must be informed within that period of a date of response.

The centre must hold a register of complaints containing the number of and reasons for the complaints received as well as the basis of the complaints, where applicable.

O.C. 1042-2010, s. 15.

16. A 9-1-1 emergency centre must hold a register of intrusions, attempts of intrusion and unauthorized computer transactions and a register of remote access to its telephone and computer systems.

O.C. 1042-2010, s. 16.

DIVISION II CONTINUITY OF OPERATIONS

17. To ensure the continuity of its operations, a 9-1-1 emergency centre must.

(1)  establish and maintain up-to-date a backup plan and an emergency plan in the event of a disaster; and

(2)  set up a preventive maintenance program.

O.C. 1042-2010, s. 17.

18. The backup plan of a 9-1-1 emergency centre must contain

(1)  the identification of a functional backup centre that is able to comply with Chapters II and III, Division I of Chapter IV and Chapter V of this Regulation;

(2)  the measures to be taken in case of call overflow;

(3)  the procedure relating to the transfer of telephone lines from the 9-1-1 emergency centre to its backup centre and to the resumption of operations;

(4)  the backup procedure to ensure in the short, medium and long-term the continuity of operations to take, process, transfer and record calls;

(5)  the contact information of the secondary emergency call centres and responders that could be called by the 9-1-1 emergency centre; and

(6)  the instructions relating to the implementation and execution of the plan for the persons in charge and staff members.

The centre must inform all staff members of the content of the plan. It must carry out every 3 months exercises to test its application by verifying the functionality of its backup centre.

The centre must also hold a register in which the results of those verifications and dates on which they were carried out are entered.

O.C. 1042-2010, s. 18.

19. The emergency plan in the event of a disaster of a 9-1-1 emergency centre must contain

(1)  the procedures to follow according to the emergency situation, including an evacuation procedure and containment measures;

(2)  the contact information of the emergency responders of the municipality where it is located;

(3)  the instructions relating to the implementation and execution of the plan for the persons in charge and staff members;

(4)  the location of portable fire extinguishers and other fire protection equipment;

(5)  evacuation routes to outside meeting places; and

(6)  the emergency procedure applicable to its backup centre.

The centre must inform all staff members of the content of the plan and carry out exercises, twice a year, to test its application.

O.C. 1042-2010, s. 19.

20. The preventive maintenance program must provide for periodical inspections to ensure the operation of the equipment and of every system used by the 9-1-1 emergency centre, including those of its backup centre, and for the keeping of a register in which system failures and repairs carried out on the equipment and systems are entered.

The centre must, as soon as possible, inform the Minister of Public Security of any defect or disturbance disrupting its operations.

O.C. 1042-2010, s. 20.

CHAPTER V HUMAN RESOURCES

DIVISION I CONDITIONS TO HOLD EMPLOYMENT

21. A 9-1-1 emergency centre must require, before hiring, that each applicant qualified for the position of emergency call operator undergo a medical examination to determine if the applicant has the required skills to hold such a position. The medical examination is to verify the candidate’s visual and auditory acuity, psychological stability and stress tolerance level.

The centre may, at all times, require that an emergency call operator undergo a medical examination, if it has reasonable grounds to believe that there has been a change related to the skills required to hold that employment.

O.C. 1042-2010, s. 21.

DIVISION II TRAINING

22. A 9-1-1 emergency centre must ensure that emergency call operators receive initial theoretical and practical training of not less than 100 hours.

That training includes

(1)  the roles and responsibilities of emergency call operators;

(2)  customer service;

(3)  telephones and computers;

(4)  the equipment used by the 9-1-1 emergency centre, other than telephones and computers;

(5)  the processing of geographic information and basic concepts in geomatics;

(6)  the drafting technique of a calling card;

(7)  the confidentiality of information;

(8)  the language to be used;

(9)  the definition of an emergency;

(10)  the operation of the 9-1-1 network;

(11)  the management of difficult situations;

(12)  stress management;

(13)  available resources;

(14)  operational modes; and

(15)  the statutes governing the practices and memoranda of understanding.

The centre is to ensure that the emergency call operators and the persons in charge of operations receive, at least twice a year, continuing training pertaining to their work.

O.C. 1042-2010, s. 22.

23. (Omitted).

O.C. 1042-2010, s. 23.

REFERENCES

O.C. 1042-2010, 2010 G.O. 2, 3851