Hello -

I am new to this Forum, so please forgive me if this question has been asked and answered.

I am a safety professional who has the responsibility for preparing a major hospital (900 patient beds, 6000+ employees, four campus sites, 40 some various physician offices and busissness offices off site) for all possibilities come Y2K. Emergency Preparedness with so much uncertainity is really stressful.

I have a meeting in 10 days with our local electrical supplier, and I am looking for a list of good questions to ask them regarding their readiness or compliance. I am not an expert in electrical systems, so I don't want to get the wool pulled over my eyes by a lot of technical mumbo jumbo, and I need to understand the questions I am asking.

Can anyone here point me in the right direction, or provide me with a list of questions you would ask if you were in my place? Lives may or may not depend on the answers I receive from our supplier, and will greatly effect our emergency planning...thanks everyone. I will be looking forward to your responses.

SafetyOne a.k.a. Martha

-- Anonymous, July 01, 1999

Answers

Anything short of buying generators would be irresponsible. No one can guarantee the grid will be stable.

-- Anonymous, July 01, 1999

Buzz -

FYI....

Hospitals ALWAYS have emergency generators, they are tested monthly, under load. They provide power for essential systems only. Some lights, medical equipment, fire alarms, etc. They have to, by regulation, be able to run for 24 hours. We already have plans for a tanker truck of extra fuel, and extra parts should the need arise. That should get us through several days. Our heat is steam, and we are making plans to reduce patient load and move all into one building on each campus. That way we can reduce the load on the steam generators and the electrical generators. Thereby increasing our run time.

SafetyOne, a.k.a. Martha

-- Anonymous, July 01, 1999

Ask these questions of your electricity utility. 1. Will their accounts to consumers go out on time? 2. Can you pay your acount and will it be receipted properly? 3. Is their business information system compliant and tested as such? 4. If they are in a networked business environment, is the whole of it compliant and tested as such? 5. Are their protection and test numerical relays all synchronised with reference to date and time? 6. Are their communication multiplexers compliant and tested as such? 7. Is their SCADA system compliant and tested as such? 8. Have they developed contingency plans for all components which might fail on the day? 9. Are their sub stations going to lock staff out because of access control systems failing. 10. Do they have the staff resources to run around fixing things on the day?

Kind regards........James Prosser

-- Anonymous, July 01, 1999

HOSPITAL GENERATORS FAILED

Thursday July 1, 8:02 am Eastern Time Company Press Release `Blueprint' for Local Governments Helps Communities Prepare for Y2K Community Preparedness Plan Now in Use, Available Free on Web Site to Help Local Government and Community Leaders LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 1, 1999-- A comprehensive community preparedness blueprint received praise last week from John Koskinen, chair of the President's Council on Year 2000 Conversion, as a model program to increase Y2K readiness.

The program fosters coordinated local approaches for Y2K readiness and is now available free of charge to local governments, private industries, non-profit agencies and community leaders.

The Millennium Management Blueprint(TM) provides one of the best management tools for local governments to prepare their communities should Y2K computer problems occur, Koskinen told nearly 200 Los Angeles area leaders last week at the kickoff of a public-private Y2K preparedness partnership.

The Millennium Management Blueprint, developed by Candle Corp. of Santa Monica, Calif., in partnership with the city and county of Los Angeles and dozens of other local governments, is currently in use by U.S. cities and counties nationwide. The Blueprint speaks to the unique nature of Y2K, providing a management plan to help local government, business, community organizations and residents plan and prepare for the potential impacts of the millennium transition.

``Unlike earthquakes, floods or other natural disasters, the Y2K problem is predictable in terms of the date, but unpredictable in scope, duration or impact. That is why it is essential -- especially now, six months before January 1, 2000 -- to involve all sectors of our communities in preparing for potential disruptions,'' said Aubrey Chernick, chairman and founder of Candle Corp.

Recent events highlight the need to identify the potential gaps in Y2K emergency preparedness, Chernick said. For instance, the generators at one U.S. city's hospital recently failed to turn on during a power outage, forcing the hospital to transfer some patients to other hospitals.

``Even when an institution believes it has all the contingencies covered, such as having back-up generators, problems like these may still occur. Although this wasn't Y2K-related, incidents like this tell us that we all must look more seriously at establishing and testing our contingency plans,'' Chernick said.

``Until now, many local governments have simply been consumed with taking care of the technical fixes and have spent little time on contingency planning,'' Chernick said. ``Now, it is time for local governments around the world to have a broader and more formal Y2K management program for community preparedness, one that involves local government, private sector, non-profit agencies and community groups.''

Being prepared for a few days to a few weeks of potential disruptions is prudent and, in most cases, a low-cost insurance policy that could provide a buffer time zone in which critical computer systems are being fixed, Chernick added.

``Blueprint in Action''

The Blueprint is unique because it blends the best practices of emergency planning with the solution-oriented techniques of an information technology company like Candle Corp. and was evaluated by dozens of cities prior to its release. Hence, the document is a proven tool for regions as large as Los Angeles (nearly 10 million people) as well as smaller communities.

The largest coordinated effort to date utilizing the Millennium Management Blueprint is the Los Angeles Millennium Management Leadership Team, a partnership between the city and county of Los Angeles, private industry, non-profit agencies and community groups to prepare the country's most widespread metropolis for the Y2K transition.

``Los Angeles has surmounted the challenges of other emergencies in the past, and we plan to be equally prepared for Y2K,'' said Mayor Richard J. Riordan. ``The city greatly appreciates Candle's efforts in developing The Millennium Management plan, an essential emergency planning tool for any city.''

Adhering to the principals and recommendations of the Blueprint along with an aggressive computer remediation program has made the Los Angeles area one of the best-prepared regions in the country, Riordan said.

Smaller cities found the Blueprint provided additional insight into Y2K planning.

``Cities such as ours rely heavily on counties and others to provide basic services and, so, we might have believed the Y2K issue is out of our control,'' said Calabasas, Calif. City Manager Charles Cate. ``But after reading the Millennium Management Blueprint, we realized we can be more self-reliant on January 1, 2000. This tool allowed us to start thinking in new ways and take charge of some key issues that could impact our residents and businesses.''

Local Management is the Focus, Not Technology

As Chernick explains, the Millennium Management Blueprint is not a plan for technical compliance or preventing Y2K computer glitches, but a detailed management tool to help local governments plan for local problems, prioritize tasks and find ways to ensure the continuation of basic services.

``Because this is such a unique situation, local governments need to supplement their existing emergency preparedness plans. Certainly, individual preparedness is needed. However, the Blueprint further helps a local community by explaining the need for a wide variety of groups, individuals, organizations and local government departments to talk to each other and begin jointly coordinating Y2K preparedness programs,'' Chernick said. ``Even if all the internal systems in a given local government are fixed, there are exposures related to the external dependencies. The Blueprint helps local governments map out those areas of potential vulnerability.''

The Millennium Management Blueprint was developed with the assistance of government officials and experts in emergency management and neighborhood preparedness. These include aforementioned city and county of Los Angeles, state and federal emergency managers, national disaster preparedness associations, emergency preparedness groups and leading Y2K experts such as Dr. Leon Kappelman of the University of North Texas.

Candle Corp. developed the Blueprint as a public service effort to help ensure the continuity of critical services and is not involved in Y2K compliance consulting. Candle is a leading privately held international expert in contingency planning for Fortune 500 companies in the world of business technology. The corporation has 20- plus years of expertise in evaluating, monitoring and managing large, complex computer systems, helping to minimize down time and maximize performance, and keeping the critical applications running that are the lifelines of their customers' businesses.

How To Get the Blueprint

The Millennium Management Blueprint is being made available through a special Millennium Alliance Web site: www.TMA2000.org. An additional site will provide an online discussion area for government and community leaders to view and share ideas involving contingency planning, policy making and neighborhood readiness. Government and community leaders who wish to receive a copy of the Blueprint through the mail, or obtain additional information about the discussion forum, can call 310/582-4994.

``Our hope is that the Web discussion site will help local governments exchange information to assess their readiness and identify and fix any gaps in the continuity of critical services,'' Chernick said. ``We've already identified additional programs that may be needed, such as a Y2K Readiness Calendar, to help individuals and families take timely incremental steps needed to get ready for Y2K.''

Note to Editors: Complete media materials are or will soon be available on the Millennium Alliance Web site (TMA2000.org): The Millennium Management Blueprint; a ``Community Readiness'' calendar; contributors to the Candle Blueprint; press coverage; samples of cities using the Blueprint; and comments from civic and private- sector leaders. To access the entire set of materials, use the following: log-in name: media guest, password: 448300.

---------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------- Contact:

Stoorza, Ziegaus & Metzger, Los Angeles Denis Wolcott, 213/891-2822, ext. 220

-- Anonymous, July 01, 1999

well....

personally, the first thing outta my mouth at a meeting with MY electric company (ComEd...) would be 3 questions (depending on their answers):

How many employees of (your electric company) have purchased and installed either natural gas or propane powered generators at their homes?

or

How many generators has (your electric company) paid to have installed at employees homes for "Continuity of Business"?

and since it is entirely possible that upper level management, VP's and CEO's may not "technically" be employees (its a long story):

How many management level, vice-presidents and Chief Executive Officers have had backup generators installed within the last year at their homes, paid for either by themselves or by the electric company?

but that's just me.

One question you SHOULD ask, if they say they are Y2K-Ready, is:

Do you know what the difference is between Y2K-Ready and Y2K- Compliant?

(I can post some definitions that have been floating about for bit if you care to know, reply to this thread or send me an email, yes the address works)

-- Anonymous, July 01, 1999

In addition to the excellent questions above (and the others above), you might ask about the distinction between mission critical and any other classifications.

-- Anonymous, July 01, 1999

ummm, i would do a chatty kathy number... lull them into a state of relaxation and complacency then slyly bring up deregulation and let them wax ad nauseum.

what you are trying to find out is how much downsizing has gone on and store that in your memory banks for later.

after you find out that they are, of course, y2k ready, ask about their contingency plans, i.e., their plan to go manual when/if all hell breaks loose.

determine how often they practice this manual workaround and how many of their employees are involved... also ascertain if they do this with every shift.

what you are mainly interested in determining... and you will have to come up with this on your own, is can they experience difficulties with their systems and still hold it together manually. this could prove very difficult for them to do if they have experienced recent downsizing.

you might also want to determine the average number of years the key employees have worked at said facility.

this and the questions above is a good start.

before the meeting i would try to secure a slightly used but historically proven crystal ball... you will need it.

-- Anonymous, July 01, 1999

Thanks to everyone who replied. I knew I would get some well thought out answers here.

Now, for another series of questions...

James Prosser wrote:

#7 Is their SCADA system compliant and tested as such?

OK, I will, but I would like to know what a SCADA is first...*g*. I told you I don't know all the buzzwords, so I really need to know what I am asking, so I will understand the answers. As to the rest, thanks James, you had a very good list, things I certainly had not thought about.

Next Buzzy wrote about the Millennium Management Blueprint. I downloaded it, and plan to read it cover to cover. Thanks for the ref. I have already skimmed it, and it looks like it might help a lot. I may post some more questions though, when I am done...!

Then Plonk! added several questions regarding how many employees of the electric company has installed emergency generators at their homes. LOL! Now that they might not want to tell me...but I may ask anyway, just to shake them up a bit! Seriously, several of the programmers at work have done this very thing...makes me nervous for my facility, and my family.

Plonk also asked if I knew the difference between "Y2K-Ready" and "Y2K-Compliant". Yes, I believe I do...lets see, "Ready" means they are ready to fix on failure, and "Compliant" means that they have already found, and fixed, all potential Y2K problems...am I right?

Then cl suggests asking the distinction between mission critical and any other classifications. I hear that many industries have reduced their number of mission critical systems to make their compliance numbers look good. Is this what you mean for me to be looking for? How many mission critical systems were 1st designated as such, and how many do they still have?

And finally, marianne suggests the "Chatty Kathy" approach. Now that I can do...I learn so much that way. Downsizing is a really good point. Look what it has done to my own industry...we can't even keep the hospitals clean!

Thanks so much all of you! What great ideas! I have printed this thread out and plan to put together a list...that I will memorize and work into my "innocent" conversation...by the way, I didn't mention, the company I am meeting with before...PECO. They serve Philadelphia. Any thing y'all got to say about this company?

SafetyOne a.k.a. Martha

-- Anonymous, July 01, 1999

PECO gave us Homer Simpson sleeping at the control panels of nuclear power plants. PECO had fires in their diesel generators about 18 months ago at Limerick. PECO falsified records to the NRC last year and committed a federal offense by doing so. PECO had an explosion at a substation last year. PECO has filed with the PUC to keep all Y2K remediation and contingency plans secret. PECO locked up its safety parameter display system at Peach Bottom for 7 hours during a Y2K test in February. PECO feeds power into the PJM grid which supplies power to Washington DC where they ARE expecting breakdowns. PECO is buying several other nuclear plants that are not the same type as their own. They are stretching themselves too thin. But they say they are ready for Y2K. A GPU spokesman said that deregulation is causing a decrease in line maintenance which will lead to a degraded grid. A PA Senate staffer told me that the company spokepersons "jerk us around" in an "elaborate ballet" of official state hearing testimony. This person said the companies have done more PR remediation than Y2K remediation. This person is planning to stockpile essentials for a 1 month supply. Hopes this helps you to realize that no matter what questions you ask, the answers should be taken with a grain of salt.

-- Anonymous, July 01, 1999

Thank you Buzzard - That is just what I thought. I knew about some of the incidents that you mentioned, but not all. Now, if I could just get our Director of Engineering to believe. He is of the mind that PECO "can't afford" to let the power go down. So, he feels everything will be ok.

He really is a nice guy...but not into reading, or making his own judgements...he "believes"....

SafetyOne a.k.a. Martha

-- Anonymous, July 01, 1999