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CALGARY - An investigation into a botched 9-1-1 call that a family believes contributed to their 18-month-old boy's death is blaming the Internet phone provider.

Elijah Luck's family waited in vain for help at their north Calgary home late last month while paramedics were rushing to an old address three provinces away in Mississauga, Ont.

The family made the distress call through a voice-over-Internet protocol (VoIP) phone after the toddler woke up having seizures, but the call never made it to Calgary's emergency dispatch centre.

Luck, who was born prematurely and suffered health problems, later died.

An investigation by Calgary EMS and Public Safety Communications has determined the VoIP provider did not transfer the caller or the request for an ambulance.

"The questions initially were around an extended delay in our EMS," said Curtis Brochu, public safety manager. "The reality is the delay is due to the voice-over-Internet phone provider not able to connect the caller in this case back to public safety communications.

"It was just that we weren't notified about the situation because of using a voice-over-Internet phone."

The investigation was unable to identify areas within the control of EMS that could be modified or improved to prevent a similar occurrence.

VoIP technology is under the purview of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission.

The Luck family has admitted that Elijah had numerous health problems but added he seemed to be making progress.

His aunt, Sylvia, said she immediately called for help after he woke up and began having seizures April 29.

She finally hung up after many rings with no answer, but an operator called back and said that they were sending help right away. Then the line became disconnected.

After about 20 minutes waiting for an ambulance, the aunt rushed outside and began banging on doors until she found a neighbour who called 9-1-1.

But by the time paramedics finally arrived, it was too late to revive the toddler.

"The family has told us repeatedly that they called, they updated their subscription. They believed they had done all they were required to do," said Brochu.

"They believed they were talking to our 9-1-1 dispatch centre when in fact they weren't and they thought they had done what they needed to do to get assistance."