A lobby group in Ontario is pushing for a fully integrated 911 system in the province, which it says would reduce the time it takes for firefighters and paramedics to respond to emergencies.

The issue was highlighted this week by the death of 50-year-old James Hearst, who died on June 25.

There have been suggestions the strike by civic workers may have contributed to his death. It took 35 minutes for paramedics to arrive and treat Hearst, who had collapsed in his apartment building in downtown Toronto.

The Ontario Safety League is suggesting nearby firefighters might have been able to respond more quickly.

The city's EMS workers are operating at 75 per cent capacity because of the strike.

On Thursday, the OSL called for an inquest into Hearst's death, saying there are questions that need to be answered about the circumstances surrounding the incident.

The OSL has also called on the province to accept a report that says centralizing emergency dispatch services for fire and ambulance would save time.

"We could reduce the average response time to around six minutes in the city of Toronto — and across the province," said Bruce Patterson, president of the OSL.

There is currently only one centralized dispatch centre in the country — in Winnipeg. According to the report by Ontario Fire Chiefs, it has cut the wait time to four-and-a-half minutes in the Manitoba capital.

The head of Toronto's EMS had denied suggestions that the labour disruption was to blame for Hearst's death, or for delays in responding to any 911 calls.

EMS chief Bruce Farr told a news conference on Tuesday that the initial 911 call about Hearst did not indicate a "life-threatening" situation.

Ambulance workers responded within the usual time frame for such calls, he said.

Farr said paramedics didn't enter the building due to a "health and safety concerns."

There has been no explanation what those health and safety concerns might have been.