911 failure raises questions in Lanark County

Lanark County officials are looking for answers after 911 service failed in the region last week. A man collapsed while doing yard work at Guthrie United Church in Clayton last Friday morning, and calls to 911 went unanswered. An ambulance came to the scene from Almonte after Mississippi Mills fire Chief Art Brown called dispatch directly, but the man later died. Kurt Greaves, chief administrative officer for Lanark County, said it’s not yet known why there was no 911 service in the Clayton area for nearly 45 minutes that morning. The county has a contract with the Ontario Provincial Police for 911 service, including fire, ambulance and police, he explained, and they are following up with the call centre in North Bay to find out what went wrong. While the question of what happened remains unanswered, what happens next remains unclear. Greaves said officials “want to get some idea as to the scope of the problem” before making any decisions.