A temporary loss of phone service across Flin Flon had health officials reverting to back-up plans to ensure emergency care remained within reach.
MTS said a construction mishap severed a phone cable, leaving Flin Flon without phone, cellular and Internet service for about eight and a half hours last Friday, August 7. There were also two 15-minute outages on Saturday, August 8.
That meant no 911 phone service, prompting the Northern Health Region (NHR) to activate contingency plans for emergency care.
“Because it was an accident, no advance notice was possible,” said Twyla Storey, communications coordinator for the NHR.
“Once the extent of the outage was known, contingency plans were put into place to ensure the safety of Flin Flon and area residents.”
Senior NHR managers travelled to city hall, the RCMP station, fire hall, Hudbay and the Jubilee Residence to advise of the contingency plans, Storey said.
NHR employees used satellite phones and radios for communication and coordination, she said.
As well, NHR chief executive officer Helga Bryant took to the airwaves of CFAR to inform residents of the temporary plans.
Her message was threefold. If residents could safely reach the ER, they were to do so. If not, and if their cell phone was working (such as outside the immediate Flin Flon area), they were advised to call the hospital directly for an ambulance.
The other option was for a patient to send someone to the hospital admitting department to advise staff of the need for an ambulance and any relevant information.
The NHR fielded four requests for paramedics during the outage periods, and Storey said all were attended without delay.
One request was relayed to paramedics via satellite phone and the other three requests were received by the provincial dispatch centre and relayed to staff in Flin Flon using the contingency plans.
Melanie McKague, director of corporate communications for MTS, said the August 7 outage stretched from about 6 am to 2:30 pm.
MTS dispatched technicians to temporarily splice fibre cables and restore service to Flin Flon, Sherridon and the Bakers Narrows and Big Island subdivisions.
The two 15-minute outages on August 8 stemmed from the permanent restoration and no further outages were planned, McKague said.
MTS provided few details on the mishap that severed service, saying only that it involved third-party construction equipment and occurred southeast of Flin Flon.
