Healthcare Facilities: Now is the Time To Prepare for Hurricane Season

The calendar says that it’s still winter, but according to Mark Watson, now is the time to prepare for hurricane season. Watson, president of Gulfstream Petroleum Services, is not talking about getting ready to board up windows or tying down outdoor furniture, but rather checking your diesel fuel and making sure your tanks are in good shape.

 

Watson grew up in a family that has been part of the industry for nearly 50 years. He founded Gulfstream in 2005 and handles everything from installations to repairs to fuel polishing to tank cleaning to compliance inspections. But it was Hurricane Katrina in 2005 that really changed the landscape, both literally and figuratively.

 

As Watson explained, hospitals and other health care facilities always had enough of a back-up system to take care of their needs for a couple of days in case of a power outage. “But it wasn’t until Katrina when they realized that in major metropolitan areas, nobody might be able to get to you for a week or two to even start helping restore the power. It was an eye-opener. They realized, ‘Not only do we need to make sure our fuel is clean and our systems are ready to go, but we need to make sure we have sufficient fuel amounts to last for a week or two.’ So hospitals started increasing the size of their capacity, adding additional fuel tanks. Some hospitals we’ve dealt with have gone from 10,000 gallon capacity to 50,000 gallon capacity.” And all of that fuel needs to be kept clean and in working order.

 

Watson’s father, John, who has been a petroleum contractor for nearly 46 years, further explained, “After Katrina, the hospitals were pretty much mandated to maintain their diesel fuel and their emergency generator power. The regulatory agency ACHA (Agency for Health Care Administration) mandates that hospitals comply with NFPA (National Fire Protection Association). NFPA 110 is the section of the fire code that governs generators, particularly generators used in life safety situations, like hospitals or nursing homes.” John said such facilities are now required to test their diesel fuel annually and have it sent to a laboratory for analysis.

 

That’s where Gulfstream comes in.  “We’re a state certified licensed contractor, so we know fuel tanks. We come out and take a sample so they can evaluate whether their fuel needs to be polished or not. We can do that, we change and clean fuel tanks for hospitals and polish and maintain their diesel fuel, to make sure that when they call on their emergency power, the fuel is going to be in good shape to operate the generator.”

 

John brought up another point, saying, “You’ve got to remember that in stand-by generators, say if a hospital has 40,000 gallons of storage, that fuel has a shelf life because the only time they use it is in an emergency situation, or they’ll run their engines just to do a routine maintenance. So out of 40,000 gallons, they might use 5,000 in a year, and the rest just sits there. Anybody who has a stand-by generator is basically just storing fuel until they need it.”

 

To maintain that fuel, Gulfstream treats it with chemicals to kill any bacteria, then circulates the fuel through filters to remove any sediments or contaminants. John said that especially in South Florida, moisture gets in the fuel, and bacteria feeds on that, settles in the tank and becomes what is called sludge or algae. “That’s what clogs the filters and injectors that prevents the engine from running. So you have to treat that, kill the bacteria, and filter all of that out of there.”

 

John said Gulfstream’s pump circulates about 60 gallons a minute, so a 10,000-gallon tank would take all day. “We just did Memorial Hospital, which has two 12,000 gallon tanks, so it took two days to finish the process – to do it right, and that’s the only way we know how to do it.” In addition to Memorial Hospital, other Gulfstream clients include Boca Raton Regional Hospital, Broward Health, the Palace at Kendall nursing home, and the FAA at Miami International Airport.

 

“Ninety percent of the problems that exist with generators are usually fuel related,” John said. “So if you can maintain your fuel, you’ve gone a long way toward maintaining your generator to avoid clogged filters and other problems.”

 

Hurricane season is right around the corner, and hospitals and other health care facilities now know where they can go to be prepared, and ensure their fuel is in good operating condition.