Calgary Toddler Dies After 911 Mix-Up

Source: The Canadian Press

Posted: 05/02/08 8:29AM

Filed Under: Canada

CALGARY - As the frantic family of a dying toddler waited in vain for help at their north Calgary home Tuesday night, paramedics were rushing to an address three provinces away in the southern Ontario city of Mississauga.

The tragic death of 18-month-old Elijah Luck demonstrates the critical differences between the 911 services of traditional land-lines and phone companies that now use voice over Internet technology.

Phone company Comwave said Thursday its emergency call centre did get a call from somebody in distress, but it "was not completed" and insufficient address information was given.

"So what they ended up doing was going to plan B which is the address that's on file for the VoIP (voice over Internet protocol) caller," company spokeswoman Alison George said Thursday. "And in this case it was an address in a completely different city."

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