Problem
Capital Regional Medical Center was expanding its behavioral health wing and needed to convert approximately 45 rooms to meet the requirements of the American College Health Association for this type of patient. The security system of choice for the medical facility was a nationally-known anti-ligature system called Top Door Alarm. The system already protects more than 2,000 patients across the country by providing medical staff with detections and notifications of self-harm attempts where a door is used as a ligature point.
While CFC is an authorized installer of Top Door Alarm systems and highly skilled in terms of the design and integration of this system, accepting this job presented unusual logistical and operational challenges. The medical center was nearly 275 miles away from our central office and demanded extensive, highly specific work that must be completed in cooperation with several other construction and medical specialists.
Solution
Unlike some of our other projects, blueprints for the Capital Regional Medical Center were not an issue. The expansive medical facility has been continuously renovated and improved upon since it opened its doors in 1979, and there were accurate drawings and blueprints readily available. After the CFC team received CAD drawings from the project’s engineer, our design specialists got to work laying out the new Top Door system. These diagrams showed wire counts and all of the system’s component locations in detail. Our team spent countless hours scrutinizing the space and developing an individualized system application for the behavioral wing from our office headquarters.
Once the planning and design process was complete, CFC partnered with an electrical contractor local to the Tallahassee, Florida area, where Capital Regional Medical Center is located. We worked in conjunction with the electrical team to “rough-in” the Top Door system. This phase of the project required multiple trips to the installation site so that we could supervise the work and attend meetings with the owner’s representative and general contractor.
CFC adapted our in-house personnel assignments and local operations to accommodate on-site meetings at the Capital Regional Medical Center. The reallocation of CFC labor and manpower was crucial to the successful completion of this project. It allowed us to maintain our unparalleled customer service and safety standards locally while staying on schedule and in-tune with the system installation in Tallahassee.
Once the bulk of the Top Door integration was complete, we dispatched a crew of 4 CFC specialists to finish the job. They worked 10-hour days to meet the General Contractor’s schedule and our tireless technicians completed the Top Door system installation in just four weeks, ahead of schedule and below budget.
CFC prides itself on its flexibility and ability to work in conjunction with other contractors and specialists. We recognize that safety and security systems are just one part of a building’s complex, operational ecosystem. We are passionate about improving the safety standards of new and existing architecture, and we tailor our improvement strategy to each individual project and location. Our products only work well if they are implemented thoughtfully in the context of the rest of a property’s construction.
