AFE March/April 2012 : Page 25William County’s first response sys-tem: a critical facility. So how does one prepare for such a sudden and oft entimes unexpected responsibility? “Th e staff worked profes-sionally, quickly, courteously and with great dedication to provide assistance and support to their community in need,” said Dianne Cabot, the center’s public relations manager. “It was diffi cult work, but the staff team experienced a tremen-dous sense of urgency, pride, and com-passion at being able to respond to such an overwhelming community need.” Meet Younes (Michael) Abboud, International Regional Vice President Michael Abboud, CPMM, project man-ager for stations, facilities & vertical transportation at the Dulles (Virginia) Corridor Metrorail construction project, has been a member of AFE since 2003, and holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Damascus University. For the past two years, Abboud has been the president of AFE’s National Capital Area Chapter 168, and holds an AFE Certifi ed Plant Maintenance Manager (CPMM) designation. Most recently, Abboud was the engineering manager for a three million-square-foot inter-national headquarters facility in the District of Columbia. With an extensive background in facilities engineering, Abboud has worked on engineering projects in Chad and Cameroon, Africa and in the Middle East. What are Critical Facilities? With the current political and ecological environment — compounded by tech-nological advances and transforming needs for data security and storage — the defi nition of critical facilities is expand-ing. Facilities professionals employed at locations such as the Sharron Baucom AFE members keep buildings safe so that the people who trust us remain “ A safe…it’s all about caring for people. ” Dale City Recreation Center are becom-ing essential to their community’s fi rst response system. FEMA identifi es typical critical facili-ties as hospitals, fi re stations, police sta-tions, storage (centers) of critical records, and similar facilities. 1 More detailed defi nitions categorize critical facilities as: Q Structures or facilities that produce, use, or store highly volatile, fl am-mable, explosive, toxic and/or water-reactive materials; Q Hospitals, nursing homes, and housing likely to contain occu-pants who may not be suffi ciently mobile to avoid death or injury during a fl ood; Q Q Police stations, fi re stations, vehicle and equipment storage facilities, and emergency operations centers that are needed for fl ood response activities before, during, and aft er a fl ood; and Public and private utility facilities vital to maintaining or restoring normal services to fl ooded areas before, during, and aft er a fl ood. councils (peer networking groups) provide convenient, accessible platforms to help foster sharing of best practices. AFE’s New Critical Facilities Council In January 2012, the association, at the request of a committee of members from various AFE chapters, launched its newest council — the Critical Facilities Council. Championed by Frank A. Erceg, CPE, CPMM (AFE Chapter 68 – Raleigh, North Carolina), the council’s primary function is to bring together key players in the critical facilities arena, such as Kevin Heslin, editor of BNP Media’s Mission Critical magazine, and Susan Scanlon, director of Corporate Outreach Recognizing the importance of critical facilities, AFE members are working in myriad ways to help these facilities operate smoothly and effi ciently, even in the worst scenarios. Th ese members have found peer networking to be the nucleus in learning proven best practices and protocols from leaders and peers in the profession. AFE March | April 2012 Q  Facilities Engineering Journal Q  www.AFE.org 25 Publication List Using a screen reader? Click Here |
