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Freuland: Locally, Lambton County, Ontario and St. lair County, Michigan,

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we kind of view ourselves as one community with a river running through it.

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We don't look at it as two different countries.

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Brooks: The CAUSE IV exercise

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is really an opportunity to experiment with some new technologies.

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And the goal is to build a network of communication,

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both data and potentially voice communication that will span the border,

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which will make interoperability function of emergency medical services

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and other emergency responders easier

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and more seamless across the international border.

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Freuland: First it's weather-based.

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So early on a weather watch comes out.

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We test cross-border alert groups,

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so the Canadians are aware of it,

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but as soon as a weather warning takes place,

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now we're getting into details of weather spotters,

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what information they're coming in.

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When the weather service issues the warning,

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they do it in a polygon-type box.

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We're taking that right off the warning

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and going onto a map and automatically notifying our center dispatch

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that these are the sirens that need to be activated within that area.

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So you won't have to sit and try to determine.

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A tornado, we estimate will probably affect

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about four to six hundred homes in the county.

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So there'd be a flurry of social media activity.

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Wetering: The digital volunteer program

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allows to pull information from the public, who are posting on social media.

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So for the CAUSE experiment they will be monitoring for CAUSE and be reporting in,

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using the online form as well as communicating with us by email.

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Freuland: We'll have our Emergency Operations staff in here.

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They'll be viewing the data.

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They'll begin making their decisions.

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Having the ability to connect with 2-1-1,

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if we an overload, whether it's in our 911 center

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or if it's in the Emergency Operations Center,

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we can count on 2-1-1 to step in.

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Tanner: It's a phone number that people can call

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when they need information about community

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and social services or services provided by the government.

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During an emergency, municipalities can tap into us as a resource

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and as a way to get information out to the public.

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What roads are closed, where's an emergency shelter located

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or how can I help with the victims of the emergency.

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So they can call 2-1-1 and get that sort of information.

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It really helps reduce non-emergency calls to 911.

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Wetering: One of the key things that are important about 2-1-1

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is that they can tell us what calls they're receiving

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and guide the Emergency Operations Center in responding to residents.

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Freuland: We're basically automating damage assessment

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right from the citizen that fills out a form electronically.

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It maps, it also goes to a more detailed form.

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It tells us where we need to send our damage assessment personnel.

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It prioritizes all the damage in the county.

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It will keep track of the number of homes destroyed, major damage, minor damage.

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It'll have a dollar amount calculated at any given time.

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Socha: So last night there was a local warning that came out.

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And it was a benzene release.

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The local authorities used their normal notifications,

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sirens were being sound

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and officials with the CAUSE environment were obviously notified

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and it was really interesting to look at the interaction and how,

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how the social media and the alerts and warnings came out,

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how the response was coming in from,

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from officials as well as from the digital side.

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CAUSE IV worked.

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