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Ministry of Health (ON)

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Ambulance Communication Services (ACS)

Dispatching of ambulances is done through Central Ambulance Communication Centres, or CACC. The service provider is the entity that controls the CACC. For example, Toronto and Ottawa self-dispatch and run their own CACCs whereas Hamilton and Cambridge CACCs are run by the Ministry of Health (Provincial Government).

Procedures and additional information for Ottawa CACC (but still applicable to other areas) can be found on this page: https://www.ottawaparamedics.ca/communications/

List of Central Ambulance Communications Centres (CACC)

Detailed talkgroup listings for MOH CACC's can be found for:


  • Cambridge CACC

Service provider: Province

Coverage: Waterloo Region (except extreme SW), Wellington Co, Dufferin Co & Caledon?)

  • Georgian (Barrie)CACC

Service provider: Province Coverage: York Region, Simcoe Co.

  • Hamilton CACC

Service provider: Province

Coverage: City of Hamilton, Brant, Haldimand and Norfolk Counties.

  • Kenora CACC

Service provider: Hospital

  • Kingston CACC

Service provider: Hospital

  • Lindsay CACC

Service provider: Province

  • London CACC

Service provider: Province

  • Mississauga CACC

Service provider: Province

Coverage: Peel (except Caledon) and Halton Region.

  • Niagara CACC

Service Provider-???

Coverage: Niagara Region

  • North Bay CACC

Service provider: Hospital

  • Oshawa (Whitby) CACC

Service provider: Province

  • Ottawa CACC

Service provider: Municipality

  • Renfrew CACC

Service provider: Province

  • Sault Ste. Marie CACC

Service provider: Hospital

  • Sudbury CACC

Service provider: Province

  • Thunder Bay CACC

Service provider: Province

  • Timmins CACC

Service provider: Municipality

  • Toronto CACC

Service provider: Municipality

Coverage: City of Toronto

  • Wallaceburg CACC

Service provider: Hospital

  • Windsor CACC

Service provider: Province

Vehicle Numbers

See these forum threads for more information: https://forums.radioreference.com/threads/ambulance-numbering.292497/ https://forums.radioreference.com/threads/ambulance-unit-numbers.405909/

2xxx - First digit is Region. 1 is the London, Oxford, and Perth area; 2 is Waterloo, Wellington, Hamilton, and Niagara area; 3 is Halton, Peel, and York area

x1xx - Second digit designates the vehicle type. 0, 1 and 2 are usually ambulances with stretchers. 3 usually refers to Supervisors or First Response Units (i.e., no patient transport capability)


Ontario Ambulance 10 Codes

10 codes

  • 10-3 All Vehicles stop Transmitting
  • 10-4 Acknowledged
  • 10-6 Busy-Stand by unless Urgent
  • 10-7 Arrived(or OUT of Service)
  • 10-8 Departed (or IN service)
  • 10-9 Repeat last Transmission
  • 10-13 Unable to reply (Relative near by etc.)
  • 10-19 Return to Base
  • 10-20 What's your Location
  • 10-21 Phone by Landline or Cellular
  • 10-25 Non-Violent Psychiatric Patient
  • 10-26 Call is cancelled
  • 10-27 Hostage Taking or SWAT Standby
  • 10-34 What's the Hospital status
  • 10-36 Emergency is CLOSED (Critical care Bypass)
  • 10-37 Emergency is OPEN to Code 3's only (ReDirect Considerations)
  • 10-38 Emergency is CLEAR
  • 10-50 Violent Psychiatric Patient
  • 10-100 Bomb Threat
  • 10-200 Have Police Attend (often abbreviated to 10-2's)
  • 10-2000 Send Police IMMEDIATELY

Colour Codes

Ambulance Availability

These codes are used by Region of Waterloo Paramedic Services/Cambridge CACC to indicate number of ambulances available.

Code Yellow = 3 or fewer ambulances

Code Red = No ambulances available


Hospital Status (Waterloo Region)

These codes are used by the Cambridge CACC to inform Region of Waterloo ambulance crews of the hospitals availability for taking in patients with COVID symptoms. They are not the same codes used internally by hospitals. Source: https://twitter.com/hotSahs/status/1319745497981177856 https://twitter.com/hotSahs/status/1311673087600013313

Applicable to hospitals in the Waterloo Region: St. Mary's, Grand River, and Cambridge Memorial

Green = Accepting patients screened with COVID symptoms

Black = No space available for patients screened with COVID symptoms

Ontario Priority Codes

Priority Codes

  • CODE 1 Deferrable call - can be delayed without physical harm to patient (e.g., transfer of CTAS Level 5 patient to hospital)
  • CODE 2 Scheduled call - non-emergency calls with a time element (e.g. scheduled transfers)
  • CODE 3 Prompt call - not life threatening or not in immediate danger, lights and siren optional
  • CODE 4 Urgent call - life threatening or in immediate danger (life, limb or function threatened). Lights on, siren optional.
  • CODE 5 Obviously dead (Rigidity, Decomposition, Vivisection, Decapitation...)
  • CODE 6 Legally dead
  • CODE 7 Unstaffed at station OR out of service
    *71 = No patient found
    *72 = Patient refused care/transport
    *73 = Patient expired [as in decease]
    *74 = Patient in police custody
    *75 = Transported by another ambulance
    *76 = Canceled before patient contact
  • CODE 8 Standby at location
  • CODE 9 Unit in for servicing (Not Usable)
  • CODE 19 non-essential call

CTAS Levels

The Canadian Triage and Acuity Scale (CTAS) has five levels:

Level 0: Obviously dead or TOR

Level 1: Resuscitation – Conditions that are threats to life or limb, needs immediate medical intervention

Level 2: Emergent – Conditions that are a potential threat to life, limb or function. Rapid intervention required to prevent further deterioration that may require resuscitation

Level 3: Urgent – Serious conditions that could progress, requiring emergency intervention

Level 4: Less urgent – Conditions that relate to patient age or distress, or has potential for further deterioration/complications. Would benefit from intervention.

Level 5: Non-urgent – Minor complaints, such as conditions that are non-urgent or that may be part of a chronic problem. Investigation/intervention can be delayed.

Acronyms

ACP    Advanced care paramedic
ALS    Advanced Life Support
BLS    Basic Life Support
CACC   Central Ambulance Communications Centre
CMH    Cambridge Memorial Hospital (in Cambridge CACC coverage area)
COPD   A lung disease that can cause breathing problems (Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease)
CVA    Stroke (cerebrovascular accident)
JB     Joseph Brant Hospital (in Mississauga CACC coverage area)
LOA    Level of awareness
LOC    Level of consciousness
MVC    Motor vehicle collision
TOC    Transfer of care. Time which patient has been transferred into the care of a receiving facility (e.g., hospital)
TOR    Termination of Rescucitation
VSA    Vital signs absent

Terminology

Patch - Usually refers to patient reports between ambulance and hospital done over the radio, facilitated by a 'patch' between a hospital talkgroup and a MOH talkgroup

Tiered - A multi-agency response. Depending on the call and local procedures, Fire or Police will respond alongside EMS. For example, if there's a call for a cardiac arrest, Fire will be 'tiered' and respond to the call with EMS. A major highway collision will usually have Police, Fire and EMS respond, a 'fully tiered' response.

UTM - Coordinates that specifies a 1 KM block on a map. You can use this converter (http://www.bpsmicro.com/utmgoogleapp.htm) to see the approximate area on Google Maps. Set the ellipsoid to 'WGS-84', and for Waterloo/Wellington, set the UTM zone to '17T'. Enter the 7-digit UTM in the 'CACC UTM' box, and then press 'Display'. See this forum thread for more information: https://forums.radioreference.com/threads/how-does-the-utm-work.202680/