Toronto, April '04

Anvil Technologies demonstrates Emergency Management wireless communications technology at Toronto Humber College mock disaster exercise:

The Humber College mock disaster was the second mock disaster exercise to be run in Toronto, the previous one being in 2003. The purpose was to stage a terrorist hostage incident, including a chemical gas explosion followed by a car bomb explosion. The exercise was attended by various services including fire, police, EMS, medical, etc. Observers from different levels of government also attended.

One of the deficiencies noted at the 2003 exercise was the lack of communications technology. Consequently, an invite was extended to Bell Canada to look at what communications technology could be used. Bell Canada in turn introduced Anvil Technologies into the picture.

At the exercise, a field hospital was established in the Humber College gymnasium, with the terrorist incident site being staged in a building at the opposite end of the campus. Volunteers had been made up to play the part of victims and were transported during the course of the exercise from the incident site to the field hospital.

The entire exercise was closely monitored by observers, the objective being to understand how the emergency management process could be further refined.

Anvil had the opportunity to test out its BreadCrumb wireless network, this being fully deployed throughout the campus in approximately 15 minutes. Various applications were run across the wireless network including live video, Voice over IP, internet access, access to the patient database, etc.