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public health officials, but also by first responders and emergency managers who need to make critical decisions about where and when to deploy services. For example, it can be consulted to decide whether it is necessary to issue a heat or cold advisory alert. "A common problem with public health information in Canada is that it's often housed disparately and not properly integrated," said Paul Belanger, manager of GIS and surveillance services, KFL&A Public Health. "We now have a centralized framework that brings datasets together to support in-depth analysis of environmen- tal determinants that can affect public health. Instead of using standalone sys- tems, public health workers can leverage an integrated dashboard that serves up access to near real-time data." Datasets consumed by PHIMS are hosted in the cloud; this ensures that the app is not vulnerable to server malfunc- tions and also eliminates infrastructure challenges that would otherwise prevent the ability to host such a large amount of data. Users can choose from a wide variety of online basemaps and overlay vector data, such as air quality or weather sen- sors, to create schematic maps. These maps make it possible to visual- ize neighbourhoods that may be vulnera- ble to impending health events. For exam- ple, plume modelling can be used to mon- itor wind direction and speed to identify communities that will likely be affected by a forest fire or chemical release. The app also adds a necessary climato- logical aspect to public health which pro- vides the situational awareness required to understand and mitigate the transmission of viruses such as West Nile. It can be used to model various scenarios, test hypothe- sis, and plan and predict where outbreaks may occur. "Prior to leveraging GIS, it simply was- n't possible to gather real-time informa- tion quickly enough to preempt a negative health event before it occurred," said Belanger. "Paper maps meant slower response times and less insight; public health professionals used to have to wait for something to happen before reacting, whereas it is now possible to predict when and where an event may occur." PHIMS is also used to map out avail- able public health facilities, information that is critical during mass immunizations or extreme weather alerts. Through a GIS- generated map view, public health profes- sionals can determine which clinics resi- dents should be directed to or identify the locations of cool down centres. In the near future, PHIMS will be used to map out the occurrence and impact of bed bugs, measure uranium in well water and monitor the presence of E.coli bacteria. "The increasing adoption of this sys- tem will enable public health profession- als to work more effectively through the improved management of information and increased access to key data ele- ments," said Belanger. "It will also help public health managers get critical input for the planning and evaluation of health services." This article was provided by Esri Canada. Further information about the company is available at esri.ca. We now have a centralized framework that supports in- depth analysis of environmental determinants of public health.

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