Family of Manitoba man who died from heart attack during 911 outage sues Telus

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The family of a Manitoba man who died of a heart attack during a 911 outage is now suing Telus, alleging the telecom company’s failure to provide reliable access to 9-1-1 contributed to the death.

Dean Switzer was days away from celebrating his 50th birthday when he suffered the fatal heart attack at his home in Fisher Branch, Man. on March 23, 2025.

According to a statement of claim filed in Manitoba’s Court of King’s Bench late last week, Dean’s wife and neighbours—all Telus customers—made approximately 20 calls to 9-1-1. But, according to the claim, none of the calls were connected.

“Rather, every time an attempt was made, each caller received an automated message that the call could not be completed and that they should (hang) up and try their call again later,” the claim reads.

During the next 45 minutes, Dean’s neighbours performed CPR while still trying to contact 9-1-1. The claim said help only arrived after a neighbour contacted a friend and RCMP officer who dispatched an ambulance.

When the ambulance arrived, Dean was pronounced dead.

“We don’t want anyone else to experience this kind of loss,” the Switzer family said in a joint statement released by their lawyer. “If speaking out can save even one life, then Dean’s death will not have been in vain.”

As CTV News previously reported, Telus confirmed there was an outage lasting 38 hours and 15 minutes between March 22 and 24, during which some customers could not contact 911.

Read more: Telus has filed its final report on a 911 outage, but critical details are redacted

Following an investigation, Telus pointed the finger at Bell—Manitoba’s 911 network provider and CTV’s parent company. It said the issue was on the Bell side of the system, which caused Telus’ 911 lines to fail. It also said the technician sent to investigate the problem did not alert higher-ups that the 911 system was compromised.

Bell, in return, said all service providers—with the exception of Telus—were able to place emergency calls the night Dean died.

At the time, Telus said it had made “enhancements” to its 911 call routing protocols.

The statement of claim alleges Telus failed to provide uninterrupted access to 911, failed to report the 911 outage in a timely manner, and failed to implement an adequate process to alert customers of a 911 system failure.

“The plaintiff says Dean would have received the care he required within a reasonable time, such that he would have survived the heart attack had the 911 service been operational,” the statement reads.

The claim is seeking damages, including the costs and expenses for Dean’s funeral.

“This case is about accountability,” Jason Harvey, the lawyer representing the Switzer family, said in a written statement. “No family should lose a loved one because a mobile phone carrier failed to meet its most basic and legally required responsibility — allowing a call for help to go through.”

CTV News reached out to Telus for comment about the lawsuit and was given the following statement.

“We acknowledge the grief felt by Mr. Switzer’s loved ones,” the statement reads. “911 is the most important service we provide as a telecommunications company, and TELUS has taken numerous steps to enhance our network resilience and strengthen our processes to mitigate future disruptions.”

No statement of defence had been filed as of Tuesday. The allegations in the statement of claim have not been tested in court.