Christie At Heart Of Vancouver’s Emergency Operations Centre

Gail Chiasson, North American Editor

To facilitate fail-safe emergency response communication during high-profile events, such as the current 2010 Vancouver Olympic and Paralympic Games, as well as on an ongoing basis, Applied Electronics Ltd., Vancouver, developed a major installation featuring Christie Digital‘s visual display solutions for the City of Vancouver’s Emergency Operations Centre in the E-Comm building.

The Vancouver EOC coordinates emergency response teams from Vancouver’s police and RCMP, fire and rescue, traffic management, city engineering services, health authority and more. Staffed by personnel from city departments and trained volunteers, it supports all response activities in the field and provides overall direction to responders in emergency situations. The 24/7 hub is critical to the safety of visitors, athletes, spectators and residents of Vancouver.

Powered by Christie high definition projectors and a Christie display wall controller, the EOC features a 26’ wide screen with a pixel resolution of 3840 x 1080. It is used for emergency mapping, linking to emergency response centres, television coverage and news feeds.

Applied Electronics’ Calgary-based Kevin Stewart, who has been working with the City of Vancouver for several years to develop a unique solution to meet their needs, designed the Christie system at E-Comm. Managed locally by Stephen Monteith, account manager in Applied Electronics’ Burnaby office, the installation was operational by the summer of 2009.

“Given the unquestionable need for system reliability and durability in such 24/7 operations, we looked to Christie to provide the solid display technology that was necessary for Vancouver’s EOC,” says Monteith. “Due to its long-standing reputation for producing exceptional, dependable products tailored to the control room environment, we have completed many successful mission-critical projects with Christie, so it was natural to employ their solutions for this type of operations centre.”

In addition to the installation in the Emergency Operations Centre, Applied Electronics installed a Christie projector in the Conference Room. Used for smaller group collaboration and decision-making, the Conference Room uses the projector in conjunction with a SMART board and video conferencing system to aid in emergency planning development.

Applied Electronics is Canada’s leading designer, supplier and integrator of professional Audio Visual, Broadcast and Post-Production systems and technology. With a dedicated team of in-house professionals and technical experts, Applied Electronics represents over 100 major technology partners and can fabricate custom components and other finishes in-house to meet system requirements. Applied Electronics is headquartered in Mississauga (Toronto), Ontario and operates offices in Montreal, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver. The company was founded in 1958 and today, it is Canada’s largest A/V and broadcast equipment and solutions supplier and integrator in terms of sales, systems design, integration, after-sale service, and technical support


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