Region’s paramedics getting new, state-of-the-art dispatch system
Posted Oct 27, 2025 03:36:39 PM.
Last Updated Oct 27, 2025 03:36:45 PM.
For the first time in two decades, the Region of Waterloo’s paramedic service is getting an upgrade to its dispatch system.
On Dec. 4, Waterloo Region will join Guelph, Wellington County and Dufferin County, bringing online the Medical Priority Dispatch System (MPDS).
Waterloo Region Paramedic Services, Chief John Riches, explained the system’s work.
“MPDS is designed to do a better job of prioritizing the right call and to the right patients. It’s a much more sophisticated system. It is evidence-based and it has physician oversight.”
The system differentiates between high-priority, life-threatening calls and less-serious calls, so when resources are stretched thin, the person who needs the ambulance immediately gets one.
Riches said that means if the condition isn’t acute, it may take some extra time for an ambulance to arrive.
“Lower priority patients who still call 911, and we will still service them; they may have to wait longer at home for us.”
“Dispatchers will remain in contact to monitor their condition and ensure they can safely wait for care,” the press release reads. “The goal is to ensure paramedic resources are directed to the most critical emergencies first.”
One of the added bonuses of MPDS is that when it collects data, that information can then be used to aid decisions about resource applications and eventually the creation of dedicated teams that can respond to specific emergencies.
What will this new technology cost the Region of Waterloo? Riches said “nothing,” noting it’s the Ministry of Health that operates the dispatch center, so they are the ones footing the bill.
MPDS’ are currently in use in Ottawa, Mississauga, Kenora, Thunder Bay, Renfrew, Georgian, Kingston and Oshawa
