Established in 2006, the Medical Transportation Coordination Centre or MTCC, is Manitoba’s dedicated command and control centre for the dispatch of Emergency Medical Services (EMS), in rural and Northern Manitoba. MTCC provides this valuable public safety service over a jurisdiction of more than 650 000 square KM. As a Public Safety Answering Point, MTCC is part of the 911 emergency response system. MTCC is responsible for the dispatch of ground and air ambulances.
MTCC dispatches EMS resources for its Regional Health Authority stakeholders. This includes 160 ground ambulances, 30 fixed wing air ambulances and 1 rotary wing air ambulance resource from about 100 stations and bases across the province, when a resident of Manitoba has a medical emergency. Medical Calls to 911 are answered at MTCC by trained emergency medical responders and paramedics, specializing in call processing for these situations. Known as System Status Controllers (or more generically as “Dispatchers”), MTCC’s paramedical dispatch staff are trained to help callers provide care until an ambulance can get to the scene.
MTCC also works with other emergency response agencies, such as fire and police dispatch agencies, for coordinated responses, to help ensure that people get the right help, when needed. MTCC staff rely on sophisticated tools and resources to assist with making the best decision for a patient at any given time.
In addition to dispatching resources to emergency calls, MTCC also coordinates facility to facility transports “interfacility transfers” across the province, as well as interprovincially. Located in Brandon, Manitoba and operating in a 24-by-7 state-of-the-art communications facility, the MTCC was established through a cooperative venture between Manitoba Health and the Regional Health Authorities of Manitoba (RHAM).
MTCC is an Accredited Centre of Excellence
In April 2016, MTCC was recognized as an Accredited Centre of Excellence by the International Academies of Emergency Dispatch (IAED). As the 12th Medical Dispatch Centre in Canada to receive this designation, it recognizes MTCC as a high performing agency with sound quality assurance and administrative practices in the medical dispatch industry. There are currently 270 Medical Accredited Centres of Excellence in the world.
In April 2019, MTCC was re-accredited for an additional 3 year period. In April 2022, MTCC continued with a second re-accreditation for an additional 3 year period.
During the three year IAED accreditation cycle, MTCC will continue to routinely submit evidence to the IAED demonstrate ongoing compliance to the accreditation criteria.
The IAED is a non-profit standard-setting organization promoting safe and effective emergency dispatch services world-wide. Comprised of three allied Academies for medical, fire and police dispatching, the IAED supports first-responder related research, unified protocol application, legislation for emergency call center regulation, and strengthening the emergency dispatch community through education, certification, and accreditation (reference: www.emergencydispatch .org).
For more information about MTCC please contact (204) 571-8860 or email us at mtcc@gov.mb.ca.
