Thursday, August 14, 2008

Florida Hospital Water Damage

Recently, ServiceMaster Recovery Systems was called out to Florida Hospital at the Winter Park campus. It was on an evening when heavy thunderstorms inundated the Orlando area. Florida Hospital suffered power outages and as a result the sump pump system failed. This led to upwards of a foot of water to enter the main atrium area of the hospital. The water came in through walls and at least 3 door openings. Unfortunately, the main atrium is also where patient admitting is conducted. This was of major concern to Florida Hospital's administration.

ServiceMaster Recovery Systems was on the scene within 45 minutes of the initial call. We were able to utilize both portable and truck mounted extracting equipment. This allowed us to quickly remove the standing water and create a safer environment. We also removed the affected building materials so we could concentrate on saving other components of the structure. During this time other team members were setting up high velocity air movers and dehumidifying equipment in order to initiate the drying process. As a mitigation company, we knew the high importance of removing all standing water and drying out the building as patient care could not be compromised.

By the end of day 2 the majority of the atrium and patient admitting areas were dry and functional. We did leave a few remaining air movers and a dehumidifier to continue facilitating the drying process. We were able to save carpeting, vinyl flooring, baseboards and the majority of drywall. The reconstruction costs were minimal, as a result of our efforts. Needless to say, the administration at Florida Hospital was very pleased with the results and elated that during the this water event patient care was never compromised.