FutureShield Integrates Software At The New Bruce Power EMC For Huron Challenge Exercise

Bolton, Ontario (February 25, 2013)

Bruce Power, located on the shores of Lake Huron, spans 2,300-acres over two locations. It includes eight CANDU nuclear reactors supplying power for hospitals, homes, schools and businesses across the province of Ontario. Their commitment to the safety of their community is shown by their actions in security and emergency preparedness including award winning security services, as well as a robust and multi-faceted emergency response program.

In October 2012, Bruce Power hosted and was part of a large EMO (Emergency Management of Ontario) exercise “Huron Challenge – Trillium Resolve”: This exercise was designed to not only test their own emergency plans, but the municipal plans as well. Bruce Power stood up their new EMC (Emergency Management Centre) for Command and Control during the drill. Bruce power has recently upgraded their Emergency Management Centre (EMC) to include leading technology tools that support communications and situational awareness, better preparing their highly skilled emergency management team for any external hazards that they may face in the future. Based on lessons learned in Fukoshima, Bruce Power decided to exercise a natural threat event.

FutureShield has been a part of the journey towards the development of this leading edge Emergency Preparedness Program at Bruce Power, by supplying software for their EMC and training for their staff. This was successfully demonstrated in the October 2012 exercise.

Emergency Management Software

• WebEOC software implemented - offering secure, real-time information sharing to help managers make sound decisions quickly
• WebEOC customized forms designed and implemented specific to their requirements as a nuclear facility, and tailored to support IMS (incident management system)
• EmerGeo software implemented – a role-based configurable dashboard that fuses data from WebEOC forms and off-site data from MASAS. This dashboard offers situational awareness for the EOC team using GIS site maps to support the needs of planning, logistics and operations sections
• EmerGeo map view tailored with areas of interest to provide ease of navigation during briefing cycles.

Training and Technology support

• Ensured MASAS was used effectively for off-site situational awareness during the exercise.
• Worked with the exercise control, security, emergency management and OPP IMS trainer during the development and implementation of the software, to ensure all participants’ needs were met.
• Worked alongside new Bruce Power EMC project team to ensure software was implemented concurrent with bricks and mortar build-out.
• Software training for day and night shifts with extensive training leading up to the exercise, and hands-on review for each member when at their designated positions within the completed Emergency Management Centre.
• Supported the technical needs during the exercise as part of the Bruce Power “geek” row, making sure the transition between shifts was seamless.

“When you work with people who are as well-trained and intelligent as the team at Bruce Power, it makes my job even easier. With tight timeframes to meet EMC deadlines, I worried about the success of this project, but the outcomes of this exercise were higher than my greatest expectations”. Cynthia Weeden, CEO - FutureShield Inc.

The skilled and dedicated team at Bruce Power, the participating first responder teams, and the support of industry partners such as FutureShield, contributed greatly to the positive outcome of the “Huron Challenge-Trillium Resolve” exercise. Bruce Power’s financial and time investment in the leading-edge, technology focused EMC, offers their team some of the best tools to support their efforts in responding to a real emergency.

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