The union representing 911 dispatchers in Nova Scotia says problems getting ambulances to emergency calls — such as the February incident in Halifax in which urgent calls from police failed to result in paramedics’ arrival for 40 minutes — happen all too frequently.

Inadequate staffing and training, as well as a new dispatch system that us es outdated m aps, mean emergency response is sometimes delayed, the union says.

“That process of people calling and then the ambulance not coming happens a lot,” says Jeff Callaghan, the national director of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, which represents Nova Scotia 911 dispatchers.

“It's only this incident, because there was a SIRT investigation, that it’s come to light like this. This happens very frequently.”

Callaghan is referring to

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