Each week we will post a summary of interesting and representative 211 calls. This week, we have a connection from Manitoba.

Manitoba:

A woman called 2-1-1, suspecting that she had inhaled a toxic substance from a broken air compressor in a refrigerator. In most cases, the 211 Service Navigator at this point would urge the caller to hang up and call 9-1-1 if they were in a medical emergency where every minute
counts, however, the caller stated right away that she was not in medical distress at the time of the call. She was more so interested in finding an agency that would be able to advise her about how dangerous or toxic the coolant in the air compressor was. She mentioned that she had
already contacted Environment Canada and other agencies, but they were unable to assist her.

The Service Navigator and the caller went through the list of agencies that had already been contacted and narrowed down some more options that would be able to confirm whether or not the inhaled substance was poisonous. The Service Navigator referred the caller to the Manitoba
Poison Centre and let her know that it was open 24 hours and would be able to provide her with information on chemical, biological, pharmaceutical and environmental poisoning and exposure.
The caller stated that this was exactly what she was looking for and thanked the Service Navigator.