Success Stories
A Sault Ste. Marie Region Success Story
Community Geomatics Centre
Ground-breaking emergency response and health technology improves safety of communities
Imagine being awoken late at night by the pungent smell of smoke. Anyone who has experienced a fire knows the instant wave of panic. And, for persons with disabilities, such as mobility, vision or hearing, the danger can be much greater.
Soon, thanks to a Vulnerable Persons Registry (VPR), more tragedies can be averted.
The VPR is the latest innovation from the cutting-edge Community Geomatics Centre 
(CGC) at the Sault Ste. Marie Innovation Centre — part of the Ontario Network of Excellence (ONE) .
This system uses Geographic Information System (GIS) technology to take overwhelming amounts of data and give decision-makers and emergency responders easy-to-use, easy-to-read information — indicating if a person with specific vulnerabilities lives at a particular address and communicating tips for how to assist en route to the emergency.
During electrical outages, the public utility will know where people — who depend on devices powered by electricity to survive — live. And for large scale emergencies, VPR data will be available to the Emergency Command Centre.
CGC is also helping communities save lives and money in other ways. The organization worked with health officials and studied the spread of C. difficile within the Sault Area Hospital. Controlling the outbreak had cost the hospital between $4 and $5-million dollars, and endangered patient safety. Their recommendations assisted in managing the situation and led the CGC to partner with an Ontario-based health technology company called Infonaut to develop a commercial solution. The technology gives hospitals the intelligence needed to make the necessary changes for managing outbreaks and preventing further outbreaks from occurring — saving money and better protecting lives.
Currently CGC delivers community-based solutions to more than 50 organizations across Ontario at affordable costs, and has created 20 highly skilled jobs in the region.
The VPR is slated to be launched in August, 2011.
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