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

Manitoba:

When disaster strikes a community, 211 can help. 211 can act as a 24 hour source of information, so that people get the data they need, and do not have to tie up emergency phone numbers looking for answers.

A resident of Leaf Rapids called 211 after she was evacuated from her community because of a wildfire that was out of control. She was physically safe at the time of her call to 211, but needed answers. She and other community residents were understandably disoriented and needed to know what was going on with the disaster mitigation and support services for people who had to evacuate.

The Service Navigator showed empathy for the resident’s situation – being evacuated is extremely stressful. He let the resident know everything that was currently known about the state of the disaster. He also let her know about arrangements that were being made to support evacuees. There was some information that was not known at the time of the call, because the fire was ongoing. Therefore, he encouraged the caller and other evacuees to call 211 anytime to find up-to-date information.

At the end of the call, the client stated she would recommend the 211 service to anyone who called looking for information.