Manitoba man forced to crawl for help after fall due to lack of cell service

An undated stock image of a cellphone (Athena Sandrini/Pexels)

Residents of the Municipality of Brenda-Waskada are expressing safety concerns as the community deals with unreliable cellphone service.

“It’s a health issue,” said Leanne Hannah, who lives in the area.

“The farmers need it. The oil guys need it. The older people need it, us young people need it.”

Maurice Saltel, reeve of the southwestern community, said lack of cell service is a major issue.

He explained the municipality and its surrounding areas are filled with cell service “dead spots,” which are in dire need of improvement.

“I’m living in a [dead spot] right now in Waskada,” he said.

“If I need to make a medical appointment, I have to get in my vehicle and then I’ll have to drive to where I can get cell service and make my medical appointment.”

One of the main problems, Saltel explained, is that Brenda-Waskada is an agricultural community. This means farmers are left working alone with their machinery without sufficient cell service.

The reeve noted this poses safety threats in the case of a potential accident.

“As much as farmers are aware of safety, practice safety – stuff happens,” he said.

“If you ask anyone that’s lived in rural Manitoba for any length of time, there are stories all around about someone getting caught in machinery and having to stay in that field until someone noticed and came by and drove by and helped out.”

Saltel added that his community is also part of Manitoba’s oil country – an industry that also poses dangers that could be mitigated by improved cell service.

“In the oil industry, communication is critical,” he said.

“Not just for safety [of people], but for safety of the environment, as well. So we’ve got to make sure that our oil industry in all its areas where it has oil wells has good cell service to protect the people in the area.”

Elderly man forced to crawl after fall

Leanne Hannah, a resident of Waskada, said her 84-year-old dad is an example of the need for better service.

She said last summer he was out mowing the lawn on the family farm, got off the mower and fell. As there is no cell service on the farm, which is a half mile behind Waskada, Hannah said her dad had to crawl back to the mower, drive back to his side-by-side, then drive into town to get help.

Hannah said her dad ended up with a fractured hip and infection around his heart.

“We don’t know whether his hip was fractured when he fell or whether it got worse from him having to crawl, to being able to get up on the mower, then to get up on the [side-by-side,” she said.

“[With cell service] he could’ve phoned 911 and laid there. He could’ve phoned us and we could’ve phoned 911.”

Moving forward

Saltel said he’s met with government officials to try to fix the problem.

He added, going forward, he’d like to see either Bell MTS or another service provider find a solution.

“We don’t care where the service comes from, as long as get service,” he said.

In a statement, Bell MTS said its coverage map indicates that there should be wireless service in Brenda-Waskada and its broader area, particularly outdoors. However, it noted, service quality and reliability can vary based on location.

“Wireless coverage, particularly in rural and remote areas, can fluctuate due to a number of factors, including geography, distance from existing network infrastructure and physical limitations of the technology,” it said.

Bell MTS checked and found no outages affecting nearby wireless sites, adding that it continues to invest in improving and expanding networks, including in rural areas.

A spokesperson for Minister of Innovation and New Technology Mike Moroz confirmed the minister has met with representatives from the community on several occasions.

The spokesperson said there have been ongoing discussions with Bell MTS on the issue, adding that Moroz has also spoken to federal ministers on the matter.

Editor’s note: Bell MTS and CTV News are both owned by BCE.