Toronto Ambulance Codes

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exkalibur

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slipslope said:
Dispatcher: "Is there a unit that can clear and respond... It's coming through as a C-ambulance call at Queen & Vermunzie. An old lady has fallen and can't get up. Ambulance attending. Time is 12:01."

"See Ambulance" is what they're saying - as in, meet the ambulance crew.
 

mciupa

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slipslope said:
Dispatcher: "Is there a unit that can clear and respond... It's coming through as a C-ambulance call at Queen & Vermunzie. An old lady has fallen and can't get up. Ambulance attending. Time is 12:01."


. . . or could it be a "Charlie" as in priority Alpha , Bravo ,Charlie ,Delta , or Echo.

BTW , your example should be Queen and Bermondsey. :D
 

slipslope

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I was wondering if it meant that when the caller called 9-1-1, they asked to "see an ambulance" and the dispatcher relayed the information as a "see ambulance call"...

I thought I heard a D-ambulance call once, but I must not have had my morning coffee !

Would make sense that the vast majority of calls are "Charlie Priority" ?
 

exkalibur

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No.

Ugh. Listen people listen!!

When there's an ambulance call, and TPS gets dispatched, almost without exception, the call would go something like "5204 call for you in your zone, it's coming up as a see ambulance at Queen and McCaul".

By the way, Queen and Bermondsey don't cross :)

The only people who would use Charlie as a priority is Ambulance, you'll rarely ever hear it elsewhere. The exception is an Echo call, TPS will often air over a hotshot for an Echo Tiered, but that's it.

So what you heard was TPS being requested to see the ambulance crew on scene - nothing more.
 

pathalogical

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So what does it mean when an EMS crew says "Where can we go on a CTAS 3 coordinated ?". I know what the 5 levels of CTAS are but they don't always use the term coordinated.

Further to the 'see ambulance', sometimes EMS will request police to attend their location if they feel they may be in danger or if a persons injuries are suspicious in nature (possibly a result of crime) or even if a large crowd begins to gather which may interfere with their efforts to treat a patient at the scene. My favourite calls are for the fire dept when they get called for a Lift Assist. You know someones had a few too many Big Macs over the years !!!
 

EJB

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When a EMS crew is looking for a hospital the crew swithes to talkgroup 25840, destination-corrdinator.
Their job is to decide which hospital to send the EMS unit.
After this, the EMS unit switches back to their t/g and mentions to their dispatcher that they are going to so&so hospital and that the co-ordinator has given them permission.
 

williams63

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Some Info I got from a friend who is an EMS :

Single patient units can be identified by thier unit number.

The second number tells how many full size stretchers the unit can carry.

Hence ambulance 5281 can carry 2 stretchers, and 5113 and 5173 can each carry a single stretcher.

If the second number in the unit number is a 3 as is the case with 5357, that indicates the vehicle is a non pt. carrying vehicle.



The new coding system is actually CTAS (Canadian Triage and Acuity Scale). This is the same system that Nurses in Emergency Departments of Hospitals use to priorize what pt. gets seen by a doctor in what order. Paramedics started using the same sysem when communicating to recieving facilities so as to better communicte pt. condition rather than the priority system which is more of a description of how urgently they are driving to the hospital. CTAS levels range from 1-5 with CTAS level 1 being the most serious, resucitation efforts in progress.


The Priority codes are as follows:
1-Deferrable
2-Scheduled (as when a pt. is being transported via ambulance for testing or a procedure at a different facility.
3-Prompt.
4-Urgent.
5-Obviously Dead. This is not a dispatch code, rather what the Paramedics would communicate back to thier CACC ie. Sault Ste Marie, Pt. here is code 5
6-Transport of Dead
7- No pt. carried
8-Standby location. This is a dispatch only code. Usually to cover an adjacent area whose ambulances are busy.
9- vehicle is out of service.


Typically lights and sirens are only used during priority 4 travel; however, the paramedics have the option of using them during priority 3 as well.


Dispatchers do not communicate a CTAS level when dispatching an ambulance to a call. It is only for the Paramedics who after assessing and beginning treatment of a pt. to decide on a CTAS level. Once in the hospital, an attending nurse will re-assess and re-assign a CTAS level to the pt.
 

exkalibur

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Toronto doesn't follow the standard MOH numbering scheme.

As for the CTAS and Priority levels, the way it was explained is that Priority Level refers to what the Ambulance is doing, and CTAS is what the Patient is doing. Since there's no Patient upon initial dispatch, only a Priority level is given.
 

als_medic

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EMS Vehicles

Vehicle Numbering is as follows (outside of Toronto):
First digit refers to the region. Regions 1 to 6, 1 in soutwestern Ontario, 6 in the north-west etc.
Second digit can mean a variety of things. 0 or 1 refers to a single stretcher vehicle, 2 is for a 2 stretcher unit, 3 is a non-transport response unit or supervisor vehicle, 4 is a support vehicle, 5 a regional spare ambulance
The 3rd and 4th digits are assigned sequencially.
for example, 6012 is a North-west region, single vehicle Ambulance, 3222 is a central region (actually York EMS) 2 stretcher ambulance, 5312 a response vehicle in Sudbury
In Toronto:
The number you see on the vehicle only partially relates to what you'll hear on the air. Generally, of the 3 digit numbers on the vehicle, beginnning with 9 are BLS and 8 are ALS or special ops (Tactical, PSU, CCTU etc).
On the air, for BLS units, station number followed by last 2 digits of the vehicle number. so vehicle 975 operating out of 43 station would be 4375.
ALS is the same, but add 4 to the first digit, so the same unit as ALS would be 8375.
Stations are numbered by quadrant with the dividing lines as roughly Yonge St and Eglinton Avenue. North-west is 1, North-east 2, South-west 3, South-east 4.
Any current Toronto medics feel free to correct any errors, I have friends who work for Toronto EMS but haven't worked land EMS there since I was a student.
As for Air Unit numbers:
prefix of 7 is the region number for air, and the other numbers were just assigned sequencially and refer the base. Only dedicated bases have numbers all beginnning 779, charter flight numbers are only used as flight numbers just like any other airline. The dedicated air operators use the 779x numbers as flight numbers, and they drop the first 7 such as "Voyageur 796" or "Canadian 798",. Only exception is Toronto where they regularly operate 2 aircraft. The primary aircraft to Air-traffic control will be "Canadian 799" and the Secondary "Canadian 790". BUt as far as CACCs are concerned the aircraft are both 7799 but differenciated by the last letter of their registration, so C-GIMZ would be 799Z and C-FABH, 799H.
Hope that helps.
 

polkaroo

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Way to go Toronto, way to make it hella confusing. Maybe they'll make a magic decoder ring to put in my cereal box for all these numbers.
 

pathalogical

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Since we're talking about EMS, I have noticed some inappropriate comments from EMS towards the dispatchers. Sarcasm, smirky remarks and what sounds like degrading comments about how the dispatcher is doing his/her job. I think maybe once or twice between officer and disptacher and the fire dept - never ! Anyone else hear stuff like that ?
 

SCPD

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EMS radio comms are nowhere near as strict and regimented as police and fire. But don't put all the blame on the paramedics for the snide remarks. Us dispatchers are just as good at giving it out as we are at receiving it.

Toronto EMS now has so many units that they also have 400 and 500 series vehicles - administration, supervisory, support and the like. Gone also are the days of 800s being ACP and 900s being PCP - they're all mixed in together now.

There is much more to the provincial vehicle numbering system than what was already mentioned, and not all vehicles are numbered correctly. York 3020-3023 are single stretcher units, but 000-049 are supposed to be administration vehicles. Halton 3228 and 3229 should be double stretcher ambulances based on the numbers, but they are singles. Go figure!
 

exkalibur

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A lot of it has to do with the fact that EMS Dispatchers are only one part of the equasion. If a caller gives incorrect information such as an incorrect address, there's not a whole lot the EMD can really do about it.

Also, EMS Dispatchers (at least, at the MOH level) have the ultimate authority over vehicle movements - permission must be obtained to stop for food, gas, etc... That isn't the case with Fire or Police, for the most part - and I've heard several comments by paramedics who don't particulary agree with that policy either. Remember, there IS a person on the other side of your scanner - those comments could be for a huge list of reasons.
 
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