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69-610: The ETF is under the command of the Specialized Operations Command under Public Safety Operations, Specialized Emergency Response. The Emergency Task Force was created in 1965 after being known as the Riot and Emergency Squad which dealt with riots and crowd control issues. Over the years the unit has grown considerably and crowd control has been undertaken by the Public Safety Unit which falls under

138-400: A CIBC bank on Lawrence and Victoria Park. On February 26, 2008, ETF, K-9, and officers from 33 Division were called to a bank robbery in progress. Unknown to the 16-year-old suspect, officers surrounded the bank and waited for the suspect to exit. The suspect left the bank only to be tackled by the off-duty officer and awaiting ETF. ETF officers were involved with Project Fusion arrests. This

207-712: A Canadian Forces (CF) base approximately an hour and a half drive north of Toronto . The unit also trains with members of the CF's counter-terrorism unit Joint Task Force 2 , who are based at the Dwyer Hill Training Facility outside of Ottawa . The ETF uses the MP5A3 sub-machine gun, Remington 700 bolt-action sniper rifle, Remington 870 shotgun, and the Colt Canada MRR carbine, while Glock 17 or 19 handguns are authorized as sidearms. In 2016,

276-613: A 'test-bed' for research projects involving both EMS and emergency medicine . This has resulted in a service which is extremely research-oriented and interested in outcome-based medicine. While this has provided any number of research opportunities for physicians and emergency medicine residents through the Sunnybrook Centre for Prehospital Medicine (the Base Hospital), it has also permitted paramedics to function as supporting and as lead researchers, and in some cases, as

345-480: A Special Operations Division, tasked with the provision of Paramedic services in unusual circumstances. The elements of this unit include: Hospital in-patient beds and Emergency Departments tend to be severely overcrowded, resulting in difficulties for paramedics transferring the care of their patients to hospital staff in a timely manner. Two- to four-hour delays in the transfer of care are commonplace, and six- to eight-hour delays are not unheard of. When this occurs,

414-420: A hostage-taking situation on August 25, 2004. A man with a history of domestic violence took a woman hostage, holding her at gunpoint during morning rush hour just outside Union Station in downtown Toronto. The incident ended when an ETF sharpshooter fired a shot, killing the man. The hostage was traumatized but unharmed. ETF responded to another operation that involved an off-duty 33 Division Officer inside

483-649: A national trend and drive for the adoption of Paramedic as the publicly recognized title for prehospital emergency care providers. On October 1, the new name came to effect. Uniforms consist of: Of the 242 vehicles in the Toronto Paramedic Services fleet, 150 are CMVSS / Ontario Standard Type III ambulances. Of these, approximately 100 are in service at any time on a typical, mid-week, day shift. These vehicles are currently supplied by Crestline Coach Ltd. . They are mounted on Chevrolet Express van chassis with boxes custom built by Crestline to suit

552-636: A satellite-based Automatic Vehicle Locating system in order to ensure that the closest appropriate response resource is consistently sent to each emergency call; all emergency response resources are included. The service utilizes a 700 mHz P25 Phase II trunking radio system for dispatch purposes. The Control Centre has direct landline contact with the 9-1-1 Center, all other emergency services, all acute care hospitals, and all Paramedic Stations. The service utilizes “ Language Line ” service to provide instant simultaneous translation of emergency calls in more than 140 languages. Toronto Paramedic Services operates

621-506: A simultaneous telephone-based translation service which operates in more than 140 languages. This service is used by Emergency Medical Dispatchers processing 9-1-1 calls, or by paramedics treating patients in the field, on a daily basis. The service also operates its own ethnocultural access program. The ' Baby Boom ' generation is aging. As it does so, all of those 'boomers' become net consumers of health care, driving up demand for services. Simultaneously, all of those 'boomers' employed by

690-651: Is 887. Toronto Paramedic Services operates its own Communications and System Control Centre (called a Central Ambulance Communications Center or CACC "Kaack"), including emergency medical dispatch, patient distribution and system oversight. Toronto Paramedic Services participates in the community-wide 9-1-1 system, and triages emergency calls using the Advanced Medical Priority Dispatch System . The system uses Computer-Aided Dispatch , including Tritech VisiCAD, augmented by PDS and Optima Live software and technology. The service utilizes

759-502: Is bounded roughly by Steeles Avenue to the north, Eglinton Avenue to the south, Yonge Street to the east, and Highway 427 & Mississauga border to the west. The District 2 Hub is located at 20 Station (2430 Lawrence Ave E). The Northeast quadrant is bounded roughly by Steeles Avenue to the north, Eglinton Avenue to the south, the Scarborough-Pickering Townline and Rouge River to the east, and Yonge Street to

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828-527: Is derived from the motto of the 3rd York Militia Regiment , many of whom also served as local constables in the Home District . The YRP crest is based on the crest from the former County of York government. The YRP's senior command consists of a chief of police and four deputy chiefs. The head of the police service is Chief Jim MacSween who was sworn in as chief on May 1, 2020. He replaced retired Chief Eric Jolliffe, after he served almost 10 years in

897-680: Is one of the founding members of the Ontario Tactical Advisory Body (OTAB). Members of the ERU currently hold positions within the OTAB and Canadian Explosive Technicians Association (CETA) as well as membership in the National Tactical Officers Association (NTOA) and International Association of Bomb Technicians and Investigators (IABTI). The traffic bureau was formed in 1989. At that time,

966-633: Is provided by the Georgina Island Police with assistance from the Ontario Provincial Police . The islands have had a separate First Nations police service since 1978. The York Regional Police were formed in 1971, when the province forced the creation of a regional upper-tier municipal government that included the lower-tier municipalities of York County . Prior to 1971, there were several police forces serving individual communities: The YRP's motto, "Deeds Speak",

1035-600: Is regularly involved in high-risk search warrant services within the York Region and the Greater Toronto Area as well as a number of high-profile joint forces operations within Ontario. The York Regional Police ERU conduct their own strenuous selection process, with the applicants mainly being from the departments' uniformed divisions. The unit also trains its own candidates in most required disciplines and

1104-577: Is similar to that used by police services elsewhere in Canada and in the United Kingdom, except that the usual "pips" are replaced by maple leaves. (Slip-on) (Shoulder board) The day-to-day and regional operations are commanded by senior officers: On-road enforcement and emergency response is supervised by: Investigations are divided into crimes against persons and crimes against property. These investigations are conducted by: Communications

1173-443: Is subject to provincial legislation and licensing . It is not the only service provider in its area; private-for-profit medical transport services also provide routine, non-emergency transports and coverage for special events, but the statutory emergency medical system is the only provider permitted to service emergency calls. The City of Toronto has operated an ambulance service directly on an uninterrupted basis since 1883, when

1242-512: Is supplemented by well-developed Paramedic Services in neighbouring communities on three sides, with Lake Ontario providing the southern boundary of the service area. Air ambulance operations are provided within the City of Toronto by Ornge , a privately owned air ambulance contractor, under contract to the Government of Ontario. Based upon information provided by Toronto Paramedic Services,

1311-502: Is the police service of the Regional Municipality of York , Ontario , Canada . YRP was formed in 1971 from the police forces maintained by the nine municipalities which amalgamated into York Region at the time. The force employs over 1,500 sworn members and 618 unsworn members as of 2015. While YRP provides marine policing in the waters on Lake Simcoe , policing for Georgina Island (as well as Fox and Snake islands)

1380-475: Is the YRP SWAT team formed in 1980. The ERU is a group of specialized operators. The unit's primary mandate is to deal with high-risk situations beyond the safe operating limits of police officers with their normal equipment and training. The ERU provides assistance during any high risk situations by performing the following; In 1988 demand for the ERU was on the rise. Various operational obligations including

1449-486: Is the branch of the York Regional Police responsible for receiving all 911 and non-emergency police calls. Under the supervision of information services, police communicators are on duty 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The communications staff are non-sworn members of the York Regional Police, though the bureau is under the direction of an Inspector and a Staff sergeant. The emergency response unit (ERU)

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1518-522: The City of Toronto Health Department acquired two ambulances to transport those with infectious diseases to the local sanitarium . Full-time emergency ambulance service began in 1888, with the provision of emergency ambulance service by the Toronto Police Force , which eventually operated four horse-drawn vehicles . Prior to these two municipal initiatives, ambulance service was provided for

1587-832: The South Simcoe Police Service upon their request. Following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York City, increased awareness of terrorist threats provided the greatest single incentive for growth and investment of tactical teams in Ontario since the 1976 Olympics in Montreal , Quebec. The ERU's roster was expanded in 2002 to an undisclosed number. The roster includes both snipers and explosives technicians. The ERU has full explosive forced entry capabilities, which are mainly used in its hostage rescue and armed/barricaded operations. The ERU

1656-474: The St. John Ambulance Brigade in 1889. Training included first aid skills, anatomy and physiology . Such training for ambulance attendants was unheard of at that time, outside of military circles. The police constables assigned to the ambulance also did regular policing , when not required for ambulance calls. As the city grew and technology progressed, so did the ambulance service. The first motorized ambulance

1725-596: The York and Durham Regional Police , along with the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). ETF responded to an operation that involved resolving a hostage-taking situation on December 31, 1999. A man took a doctor at St Michael's Hospital hostage, holding the doctor at gunpoint. The incident ended when two ETF officers fired three shots, killing the man. ETF responded to an operation that involved resolving

1794-608: The 640 km (246 sq mi) of the City of Toronto. Emergency service headquarters (which is shared with Toronto Fire Services, but both services operate independently) is located at 4330 Dufferin Street in Toronto. This facility includes administrative offices, some education facilities, the Communications Centre, Fleet Maintenance, Planning and Operational Support, and Materials Management/Logistics.The service

1863-560: The ETF acquired C8 carbines . Less than lethal options are also at the disposal of team members: these include X26 Tasers , pepper spray (OC Spray) and tear gas (CS Gas), and rubber bullets or bean bag rounds. ETF also operates Northrop Grumman Remotec Andros MK V1A bomb disposal remote robots to defuse suspected bombs or suspicious objects. The newest robot used by the team is the Remotec Andros F6B. The vehicles used by

1932-677: The ETF has operated the Armet Trooper , which can be used to rescue injured civilians or officers. ETF now operates the Terradyne Armored Vehicles Gurkha specifically the MPV variant which has been modified for ETF usage, replacing the aging Armet Trooper's roles. Currently, the Toronto Police Service does not have its own helicopter, but they receive air support from various agencies including

2001-862: The ETF. The ETF maintains a close working relationship with other police tactical teams of the Greater Toronto Area , including the York Regional Police Emergency Response Unit (ERU), the Durham Regional Police Tactical Support Unit (TSU), and the Peel Regional Police Tactical and Rescue Unit (TRU). The unit is located in Toronto, in a 35,000-square-foot (3,300 m) building that was built in 1989. It contains: The teams train at their Don Mills station, as well as at CFB Borden ,

2070-421: The back. Previously the service wore light blue shirts. The uniform patch consist of the force's crest with wording "York Regional Police" on a black tombstone shape. Auxiliary members wear the same uniform; lack of weapons, different shoulder patch and different hat band (black and red Sillitoe tartan ) distinguish them from front line officers. Officers wear standard forage caps and may opt for Yukon hats in

2139-601: The city's Chinese community. As another little known fact of community involvement by paramedics, all of the floats in the city's annual Santa Claus Parade (one of North America's largest), are driven by volunteers from Toronto Paramedic Services, including both paramedics and a variety of other staff. Paramedicine in Canada Emergency Services in Toronto Employee association York Regional Police The York Regional Police ( YRP )

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2208-550: The community of Whitchurch-Stouffville. Numerous personnel work out of this substation to provide a police presence for the community. This community substation is supplied under the host of 5 District (Markham) resources. Shared with the King Township municipal offices, York Regional Police deploys personnel from the King City Community Substation to provide rapid and fluid policing services to

2277-418: The community which they serve. At the 'grass roots' level, Toronto's paramedics and EMDs fund a children's breakfast club, ensuring a nutritious breakfast for the children who live in several of the city's housing projects. Paramedics also participate in a variety of other events in the community, including their enthusiastic (and occasionally successful) participation in the dragon boat races staged annually by

2346-594: The control of the Public Safety and Emergency Management command. The Emergency Task Force currently comprises 82 officers from all units who are tactically trained. There are seven Special Weapons Teams consisting of 10 officers each. The teams are on-call 24 hours a day, every day of the week. Each tactical team has a team leader, assaulters, snipers, bomb technicians, and a negotiator. All team members are trained as assaulters, and thus can perform any necessary tasks requiring force. The negotiation team consists of

2415-625: The fatal shooting of an armed suspect by the ERU during a hostage rescue in Richmond Hill highlighted the need for additional members. In 1989 the ERU increased to 11 members. In 2001 the York Regional Police established a shared service agreement with the Durham Regional Police Service , which allows for reciprocal tactical support in the event of large scale or long duration deployments. The York Regional Police provide tactical team and hostage rescue team support to

2484-480: The greater Toronto area with an active air support unit ( Durham is the other). While the Toronto Police Service does not have an air unit, York's air unit serves their area under a mutual support agreement. The vehicles are numbered according to their District and car number. For example, 123 represents that the vehicle is from 1 District, and the following 23 is the vehicle designation number. Other fleet numbering patterns include: Marked cruisers are labelled with

2553-490: The largest EMS Communications Centre in Canada, which was recently accredited as an International Centre of Excellence by the International Academy of Emergency Dispatch. Service is provided to a residential population of approximately 3.2 million people, which rises to approximately 5 million on most business days. Toronto Paramedic Services operates a total of 41 stations, geographically distributed across

2622-558: The location yearly. This site hosts the service's Collision Reporting Centre for collisions that occur of the southern municipalities in the region. It also offers services that include Police Information Checks, Criminal Record Checks and several other services. The former headquarters for 1 District is currently under renovations to become an administration building. The building will host certain bureaus and their respective units that are currently operated out of Headquarters. The marine unit consists of 11 full-time members and patrols

2691-462: The media for taking the time to resolve the scene peacefully. The Canadian television series Flashpoint , which aired in both Canada and the United States from 2008 to 2012, focused on a fictional version of the ETF called the "Strategic Response Unit" (SRU). Toronto EMS The City of Toronto Paramedic Services ( TPS ; formerly known as Toronto Emergency Medical Services ) is

2760-505: The motto "Deeds Speak". Three of the YRP's boats were named by Elder Barbara McDonald of the Chippewas of Georgina Island First Nation . Front line officers are dressed in dark blue (shirts, cargo pants (with red stripe) and boots), standard in most municipal police services in Ontario. Winter jackets are either black or reflective orange/yellow with the word police in white and blue at

2829-457: The municipal tax base and fifty percent from the provincial government. The funding of Toronto Paramedic Services is based upon its census population, not its business day population. As a result, there are always more people requiring EMS services than the system has been funded for. Language barriers and cultural misperceptions in Toronto's multicultural landscape are commonplace for Toronto's paramedics . The service subscribes to Language Line,

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2898-493: The needs of the service. The department currently employs Chevrolet Tahoe SUVs for First Response and supervisory vehicles as well as an assortment of fully equipped but unmarked vehicles (Primarily Dodge Caravan and Ford Taurus ) for senior management. Toronto Paramedic Services currently operates a fleet of custom built busses and equipment support vehicles for use during mass-casualty or large-scale events. Toronto Paramedic Services operates its own repair facilities, located at

2967-462: The position. The administration and senior command are based at York Regional Police Headquarters in Aurora, Ontario . A list of chiefs of the York Regional Police since its creation in 1971: Operations are composed of: The York Regional Police are divided into five geographical districts: Each district is headed by a superintendent and inspector. The York Regional Police provide a substation to

3036-523: The principal researcher of their own projects. All research conducted at Toronto EMS is pre-approved by the University of Toronto Research Ethics Committee , and the findings of research conducted at Toronto EMS, by both physicians and paramedics, has been published in respected, peer-reviewed , international journals . Toronto paramedics are heavily involved in various community programs and partnerships. Toronto's paramedics are active participants in

3105-564: The raids was at the area of Markham and Eglinton, but also included locations in Peel and York Region, along with several locations in Durham Region. The ETF responded to a call on board a TTC bus in which an emotionally disturbed person tried to hijack the bus at knife point on August 2, 2016. The ETF and their psychiatrist negotiated with the man for over five hours and were successful in getting him to surrender; they were highly praised by

3174-482: The regular uniform officer shifts. On January 1, 2002, the traffic bureau was split into two separate entities, a traffic enforcement unit and a technical collision investigation unit (TCIU). The TCIU was made up of six officers on two separate shifts supervised by one supervisor. In 2004, the technical collision investigation unit was renamed the "collision reconstruction unit". The unit had eight members made up of investigators and collision reconstructionists. The unit

3243-690: The required service area. Service would continue in this fashion until 1967, when the amalgamated City's suburban fire departments surrendered their ambulances, resulting in the evolution of the Department of Public Health Ambulance Service into the City-operated Department of Emergency Services (DES). Some private companies, and one operated by the provincial government, would continue to operate in 'Metro' Toronto until 1975, although with centralized dispatch services provided by DES. The Metropolitan Toronto Department of Ambulance Services

3312-468: The residents of King Township. The substation is supplied under the host of 1 District (Newmarket) resources. York Regional Police's Community Safety Village is a resource used by the service to teach young children about fire, traffic and personal safety. The resource includes a 10,000 square foot replica town with crosswalks, functioning traffic lighting and signals. Usually the resource is utilized by local schools, however, several family events are held at

3381-501: The scene to advise the negotiators and/or incident commander. Three of the TPS's specialized units compose the ETF. These include the special weapons teams (tactical), the explosive disposal unit (EDU), and the emergency response unit (ERU). The ERU provides specialized equipment for the ETF, including high-powered lights, crane, and a mobile command post. In a medical situation, Toronto EMS tactical paramedics in body armour work along with

3450-446: The service in the early 1970s are reaching the end of their careers and retiring. Since subsequent generations are typically much smaller, the service is experiencing difficulty in recruiting suitably trained replacement staff, just as demand for services is increasing. Over the years, the presence of such a large system and call volume, along with a commitment to consistently capture high quality data, has permitted Toronto EMS to become

3519-485: The service processed in excess of 535,000 calls through its Control Centre in 2007 (the most recent year for which complete data is available), resulting in 223,769 emergency calls being dispatched. Using the AMPDS system, which triages calls by severity for dispatch purposes, the actual dispatch volume by category for that same year was: The District 1 Hub is located at 01 Station (1300 Wilson Ave). The Northwest quadrant

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3588-1035: The service's Headquarters complex. All maintenance and repair work (with the exception of body work), and all equipment, radio, and medical electronics maintenance and repairs are performed on site by service staff. 2006 Orion Vii One example in service on Toronto Islands due to road width restrictions Special Operations Unmarked, issued to senior operations staff Used for transporting large groups/special teams for events or deployment Equipped with multiple, mission specific pods Vehicle actually owned by Lambton County heritage museum. Previously on display at Toronto EMS HQ. Similar to vehicles that would have been operated in Toronto during Late 19th/Early 20th century. http://www.horsedrawnambulance.com Multiple model years used by department until final retirement. Examples may still be in service as utility vehicles Toronto Paramedic Services has 1,207 members including paramedics and other support staff. These are categorized as follows: The total number of paramedics

3657-421: The service's ability to provide service to emergency calls in a timely manner will often degrade, because of decreased unit availability. Multiple stakeholders and various levels of government are currently seeking solutions to this problem, but have, so far, experienced only limited success. The funding for Toronto Paramedic Services occurs as a result of a mixed formula, with fifty percent of funding coming from

3726-480: The service. As of April 2005, the departments and commissioners were replaced by divisions under the city manager (and deputy managers). Toronto EMS now operates under the city's Emergency Medical Services Division. It is the largest municipal EMS operation in Canada and at the time was led by Chief Bruce Farr. In July 2014, Chief Paul Raftis announced that as part of a rebranding effort, Toronto EMS will change its name to Toronto Paramedic Services. The change follows

3795-748: The southern shoreline of Lake Simcoe and other York Region waterways. It is responsible for approximately 350 square kilometers of Lake Simcoe and can service the entire lake if required. The unit has seven vessels at their disposal and are deployed from the Marine Unit Headquarters located at 57 Lorne St., in Jackson's Point, Georgina. Emergency support is a 23-member unit with an emergency response unit and explosive disposal unit. The service currently has an authorized strength of close to 1,700 sworn members and approximately 500 civilian staff. The York Regional Police are one of two forces in

3864-739: The statutory emergency medical services provider in Toronto , Ontario, Canada. The service is operated as a division of the City of Toronto , under the Community & Social Services cluster. The service is funded by the municipal tax base , and operates similarly to other municipal divisions, such as the Toronto Parks, Forestry & Recreation division , or the Toronto Water division , but retains operational independence from other divisions. While under municipal government control, it

3933-510: The team include the Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor , Chevrolet Suburban , Ford Expedition , Ford F150 , Ford F550 , Ford Explorer and Ford Taurus Police Interceptor. They also have a number of Chevrolet express vans as RDVs. The ETF has been operating an arsenal of armoured vehicles, which provides ETF officers with increased ballistic protection and capabilities. Since the summer of 2005,

4002-493: The tiny, local fire departments . The two municipal services would finally be merged in 1933, when the Toronto Police Department turned the operation of their ambulances over to the Department of Public Health, and ended their involvement in the city's ambulance service. This service would grow again in 1953, as the result of the creation of the municipality of Metropolitan Toronto , dramatically expanding

4071-547: The traffic bureau worked out of offices located at 200 Industrial Parkway South in the Town of Aurora. The traffic bureau was made up of officers whose primary function was to enforce traffic related laws. The unit was made up of six officers who drove motorcycles and marked police cruisers. As time went on the unit began to specialize in the reconstruction of motor vehicle collisions. The unit expanded to approximately 20 officers working on four different platoons. The platoons followed

4140-419: The two ETF Staff Sergeant supervisors. If a situation is not resolved by a member of a Special Weapons Team, who is a trained negotiator, the negotiation team will be called in to take over the negotiations. In more complex calls involving suicidal, homicidal-suicidal, or violent emotionally disturbed individuals, a forensic psychiatrist, who has been on the negotiation team for the past 22 years, can be called to

4209-434: The west. The District 3 Hub is located at 30 Station (100 Turnberry Ave). The Southwest quadrant is bounded roughly by Eglinton Avenue to the north, Lake Ontario to the south, Yonge Street to the east, and Etobicoke Creek to the west. The District 4 Hub is located at 42 Station (1535 Kingston Rd). The Southeast quadrant is bounded roughly by Eglinton Avenue to the north, Lake Ontario to the south and east, and Yonge Street to

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4278-406: The west. The District 5 Hub is located at 55 Station (5700 Bathurst St). District 5 has stations in multiple quadrants and is responsible for Toronto Paramedic Services’ special operations teams, which include: Response Units, Marine Unit, Critical Care Transport Unit (CCTU), CBRNE, ETF, Bike Unit, and Emergency Support Units. In addition to regular operations, Toronto Paramedic Services staffs

4347-406: The winter. Motorcycle units have white helmets. Black or reflective gloves are also provided to officers directing traffic. Red caps are used by search teams looking for missing persons. Senior officers have white shirts and a dark blue dress jacket. The YRP's flag consists of a nautical B signal flag with the YRP crest located in the white portion. The rank insignia of the York Regional Police

4416-548: The young city by a variety of means, including both hospital-based and private companies. This 'broad spectrum' approach to service delivery would continue for more than ninety years. Toronto may very well be able to claim to have the first formally trained 'ambulance attendants' in North America, with the Toronto Police Force ambulance service staff receiving five days of formal training in their jobs from

4485-507: Was actually purchased by a local funeral home in 1911, and the Toronto Police Ambulance Service began the conversion from horse-drawn to motorized vehicles in 1913, with the process largely completed by 1918. Over the years, the two City of Toronto departments would have their services supplemented by more than 130 individual ambulance operators, most of them private companies, and in suburban areas by several of

4554-669: Was an investigation led by the Province of Ontario Guns and Gangs Task Force, whose officers were working hand-in-hand with other services, mainly the Durham Regional Police Drug and Gang Enforcement Units. These arrests happened on the morning of April 1, 2009 and saw over 120 locations raided by not only Toronto Police tactical officers, but also officers from surrounding police services as well from as far away as Belleville and London, Ontario. In total, 38 police tactical units were used for these warrants. The centre of

4623-519: Was at that time that the service undertook a rebranding with the unique forward facing A on all of its vehicles. The service introduced its first paramedics in 1984 (although experiments in pre-hospital advanced life support actually began in 1969). Toronto EMS introduced many other innovations, including the concept of dedicated ground-based critical care transport ambulances in 2000, as well as many specialty support units described in this article, many of which were originally conceived and pioneered by

4692-466: Was created in 1975 under the leadership of John Dean, and absorbed the five remaining private ambulance companies and single provincial service, providing a single, unified ambulance service in Metro Toronto . Known colloquially as Metro Toronto Ambulance or simply Metro Ambulance (although never its official name) the service provided ambulance services from 1975 to 1998. Metropolitan Toronto

4761-475: Was restructured during 1998, transforming it from a regional government overseeing six member municipalities into a single, unified city, and many municipal and regional services were restructured as a result. Metro Ambulance became Toronto Ambulance then Toronto Emergency Medical Services in 1998 under the leadership of Chief Ron Kelusky, in order to reflect its evolving role from primarily a provider of medical transportation to an actual provider of medical care. It

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