In August 2003, fifty million people across the United States and Canada went without power in a massive, wide-scale blackout. Many residents spent days without electricity. Among the people affected were those dependent on life-sustaining technology. This included a young, 21-year-old man from Sault Ste. Marie named Lewis Wheelan who relied on air conditioning to regulate his body temperature. The blackout left him without power for nearly a day and he died because no one could get to him to ensure his safety.

Inspired by the ill-fated outcomes of the 2003 blackout, Acorn Information Solutions initiated a joint project with Accessibility Sault Ste. Marie to develop a solution to proactively improve the safety of residents who are living at home and are at greater risk in the face of emergency. 

Use public data, community partnerships and technology to integrate information on all types of community-wide health vulnerabilities and locations into the Community Information Utility (CIU). To leverage this data for public good, Acorn needed to develop an application that allowed the immediate access of critical registrant data for first responders, emergency medical services, and public health and safety organizations for use in all emergencies while maintaining data accuracy and privacy.

Acorn established the Vulnerable Persons Registry (VPR), a first of its kind solution that relies on voluntary public data including name, birth date, address, type of vulnerability, emergency contact information and legal guardian information provided by vulnerable citizens. This data is stored the information utility and is confirmed, updated and maintained by Acorn staff.

The CIU and its applications are the foundation of the VPR. The integration with the community’s emergency dispatch system and local utility provide the essential data in real-time needed for improved emergency planning for those requiring assistance.

The data collected is activated and displayed during emergency calls providing first responders key information to address the specific needs of registrants.

Public data used by the VPR solution and data sharing partnerships not only creates increased public safety for vulnerable people, it also provides efficiency in emergency management.

During large-scale emergencies, community emergency management teams have access to registrant data to assist in coordinating an efficient response. For example, during blackouts Acorn can query data on who is medically electric-dependent and quickly provide this critical information to response teams.

VPR data arms first responders with information to perform their jobs more effectively and efficiently. This data also protects emergency response teams by identifying potential safety hazards like the presence of combustible oxygen tanks before entering a home.

VPR data provides significant benefits to registrants and those using the information for emergency planning.

Local utility companies can use VPR data to notify registrants who rely on electricity of planned power outages so they can safely prepare beforehand. Sault Ste. Marie’s electrical utility, PUC Distribution Inc., uses CIU-connected auto dialer technology developed by Acorn as a super-efficient method of contacting residents in the face of outages.

In the event of extended, unplanned power outages, the local utility provides VPR data on electric-dependent residents to the Canadian Red Cross to further investigate if additional assistance is required. 

Visit: www.soovpr.com for more information about the Vulnerable Persons Registry