The Sault Ste. Marie Innovation Centre's Community Geomatics Centre has established a new mechanism for identifying people who might be vulnerable during emergency situations.
The Vulnerable Persons Registry (VPR) is a database of residents who may need additional assistance during power failures, home emergencies or large-scale emergencies. Registrants who sign up as part of the registry can include information that will be dispatched to first responders in the event of an emergency to help them respond to calls.
It's an initiative developed over eight years in conjunction with 25 local agencies, and is the first of its kind in North America. Developers believe the registry can be a model for other communities.
“After eight years, we are proud of what the VPR has become and what it has the potential to do for the community and hopefully elsewhere in North America,” VPR co-ordinator Kimberley LeClair said in a news release.
Eligible residents include those who have mobility, vision or hearing limitations, developmental/intellectual, cognitive or mental health challenges, as well as those who need electricity for life-sustaining equipment such as life support, oxygen or dialysis.
The VPR initiative has been developed in memory of Lewis Wheelan, who died during the blackout in August 2003.
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