The Emergency Management Office is cautioning Nova Scotians that 911 calls placed over the Internet may not be as safe as emergency calls over a land line.
The caution comes a week after an 18-month-old Calgary boy died when his parents used an Internet phone service, called Voice Over Internet Protocol, to make an emergency call.
An ambulance was sent to the family’s former home in Mississauga, Ont., rather than their current Calgary address.
"Nova Scotians need to be aware of the potential risks of using VoIP telephone service for emergency reporting," David Morse, acting Minister of Emergency Management, said in a news release.
"The last thing we want to happen is for an emergency call to be misdirected and someone suffer harm as a result."
The organization said Internet calls can’t be tracked like traditional 911 calls because location and callback information aren’t transferred to the emergency operator.
Traditional Nova Scotia 911 calls are immediately routed to one of four call centres across the province.
The organization said some VoIP providers send calls to a national call centre first. The caller must confirm information with the national centre before the call is transferred to a local operator.
Emergency officials in British Columbia have also issued a caution about Internet 911 calls.
They also said that cellphone calls can also be problematic because the phone’s location isn’t transferred to the operator.
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