Lambton Emergency Medical Services is working with the Local Health Integration Network (LHIN) to implement new software that quickly identifies and locates medically vulnerable people during a crisis.
The software, created with Interdev Technologies, aligns existing databases from a variety of sources into one program -- housing information on people who may need assistance during a large scale emergency or evacuation.
EMS Manager Steve Pancino said the information is out there, it just needs to be compiled better.
"Say there's a mass power outage, we know that there are 50 patients, for example, in the community we know that are on home ventilators that require electricity to run those ventilators," said Pancino. "We now know where those people are and can put mitigation strategies in place to assess and help them."
He said currently, paramedics learn about those individuals through calls to 911 or from family.
Pancino said once the software, called SAVE (Situational Awareness of Vulnerable People during a Crisis or Evacuation), is implemented people in the community will also be invited to self-register if they have specific mobility issues.
He said it has already been used during three emergency simulations and passed each time.
The County of Lambton submitted a proposal to the Canadian Department of National Defense in 2016 to design and build the software with the Counties of Grey and Essex.