With Hurricane Isaac breathing down their necks on Aug. 28, 2012, administrators at a regional hospital in south central Louisiana had plenty to occupy their minds.
One thing they did not have to worry about was whether the storm would leave them without electric power or heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) services. If Isaac knocked the hospital off the local power grid, a rental generator was already on site to keep the lights burning, the HVAC running and lifesaving medical equipment working.
Because the hospital had a proactive power and HVAC contingency plan in place, the facilities management team was able to contact its temporary power and HVAC equipment partner and have the generator installed and ready to power the facility in about 24 hours.
Every company needs to include a power and HVAC contingency plan as part of its comprehensive crisis-response plan. After all, it does not take a natural disaster to cause millions of dollars in damage, disrupt operations and erode stakeholder confidence. An effective power and HVAC contingency plan minimizes financial risk, protects the health and safety of building occupants and provides peace of mind for the company and its stakeholders.
In fact, contingency planning is considered so important that some insurance carriers require companies to have a formal plan as a condition for providing business continuity coverage.
Image of flooded city provided by Petrov Stanistav Eduardovich via Shutterstock.
Next page: How to create a contingency plan
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