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\u201cIt was an incredibly busy day,\u201d said Sarah-Jean Mannette, public relations co-ordinator at the centre. \u201cOur toll-free number was given out in error. We have our local number and a toll-free number: 1-888-753-8827. The Pennsylvania folks should have been giving out a 1-800 number but they gave out a 1-888 number \u2014 our toll-free number \u2014 instead.\u201d<\/p>\n
As the first calls came in, staff at H&R MFRC were confused, but as the pattern began to emerge, they asked the callers for more information to try to understand the source of the error.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe staff were trying to figure out what was going on, but our main concern was that people couldn\u2019t get a hold of us\u2014just as staff would get off one call and put down the phone, they\u2019d have to take another call\u201d, Mannette said.<\/p>\n
The centre\u2019s registration process for programs is all online at present but it was the other, often urgent, calls staff at the centre were concerned about, she added.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s important for us that people can call us when they need our help\u2014if they need emergency childcare or a referral to mental health services or to speak with the Padre. We were worried that people might not be able to get those referrals because our phone lines were jammed.\u201d<\/p>\n
As staff at the centre tried to figure out how the mix-up occurred, a post went up on the H&R MFRC\u2019s Facebook page to let the community know they might have trouble getting through on the phone lines.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur staff were asking the people calling about vaccines how they got the number and where they were from,\u201d Mannette said. \u201cThe number had been on radio stations as well so the people I work with called the government in Pennsylvania and tried to reach out to the radio stations to let them know about the error. It wasn\u2019t easy as once information is out there, it\u2019s out there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Although it was an extremely busy day for staff at the centre, most of the callers were understanding and there were some happy conversations as people on the other end of the line learned they were talking with someone in Halifax, Nova Scotia.<\/p>\n
\u201cThose who know this place and had been here before were saying \u2018Oh, I love Canada, I love Nova Scotia\u2019 and they\u2019d chat about it for a bit,\u201d Mannette laughed. \u201cWe\u2019re Maritimers through and through, it doesn\u2019t really matter why you\u2019re calling us, we\u2019ll give you the best service we can.\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Joanie Veitch, Trident Staff What started out as a normal work week at the Halifax & Region Military Family Resource Centre changed dramatically recently as people from Pennsylvania began calling, looking for information on getting the COVID-19 vaccine. First one, then two calls came in, and by the end […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6267,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\n