The time to respond to a natural disaster is
not as the roof is blowing off the building
and water is flooding in through the doors
and the HVAC roof top equipment. In order
to minimize down time, not to mention keep
our insurance premiums to a minimum,
we have to be ready before the disaster
strikes. FM&C (Facilities Management and
Construction) has assembled strategic
partners with a depth of resources to get
our centers back up and running in the most
efficient and cost effective way possible.
“We will always do whatever is necessary to assist our partners,
JOHN HARDIN
even in the wake of natural disasters.”
RESPONDING TO
HURRICANE IRENE
Prepared to Face Any Situation
John
Hardin
John began his career in the
carpentry and HVAC trades. He
spent seven years with a General
Contractor as a Superintendant and
Project Manager. Later, he became
a construction project manager with
Toys R Us and then with Genesco,
followed by three years with Gresham
Smith and Partners and Gobbell
Hayes Partners in as Director of
Program Management. Hardin was
President of Hardin Management
Group for seven years and currently
serves as Director of Construction
and Facilities Management at
Amsurg, a national operator of
ambulatory surgical centers.
Recently, as Hurricane Irene moved up the
Atlantic coastline, we were monitoring the
storms progress and constantly adjusting our
plans to be in the highest state of readiness.
As unpredictable as large storms and
hurricanes can be, we put a lot of effort into
assessing potential need as we had nearly
30 ambulatory surgical centers within Irene’s
path.
When it was time to make a final decision,
Amsurg sent in EPIC Response and their
resources. Their crew was fully self-sufficient
and capable of staying on location for weeks
without resupply.
I met with EPIC’s crew and equipment in
Philadelphia on Saturday, August 27, 2011,
just before the storm made landfall.
In response to the agreement with Amsurg,
EPIC was tasked with covering any of their
potentially affected facilities in the Northeast.
In conjunction with their planning, EPIC
provided the following for this project:
Project Managers, Technicians and Skilled
Laborers,Drivers, Semi-trucks, Response
www.epicresponse.com
trucks, Passenger vans, Utility truck,
Generators, as well as all required cleaning
and dehumidification supplies.
EPIC departed for Philadelphia on Friday
evening, August 26th. Crews drove through
an active Category One hurricane and ran
into service opportunities along the waycutting down and removing a tree across I-95
and pulling people trapped in a mangled car
after a wreck. Through the 2,200-mile trip,
EPIC was blessed with a safe journey.
In the end, the damage to our centers turned
out to be minimal. However, if the hurricane
had moved eastward 50 miles, it could have
easily been a very different story. Had the
outcome been different, we were prepared
to split our resources into as many as eight
crews to answer the need.
We will always be prepared and we will always
base our decisions on the best and most
reliable data obtainable. We will always do
whatever is necessary to assist our partners,
even in the wake of natural disasters.