FORTS Logistics Strengthens Hospital Readiness Under The Joint Commission’s 96-Hour Framework
Understanding the 96 Hour Readiness Expectation
When a disaster disrupts hospital operations, the first 96 hours are the most critical. Patient safety, clinical continuity, financial exposure, and community trust are all at stake. The Joint Commission’s 96 hour framework does not require hospitals to remain fully operational during an extended emergency. Instead, it requires healthcare organizations to demonstrate that they have a clear, documented plan defining what can be sustained, what services may be reduced, and how patient care will continue when infrastructure, utilities, or space are compromised.
This framework reflects the reality of modern healthcare. Hospitals are not expected to stockpile every resource needed to survive a prolonged disruption on their own. Readiness is measured by planning, access to external support, and the ability to execute under pressure.
Where Emergency Operations Plans Often Break Down
During real world events, many hospitals discover that their emergency operations plans rely on assumptions rather than deployable solutions. Surge capacity is limited. Isolation rooms are quickly exhausted. Power, oxygen, lighting, and workspace constraints emerge within hours. Administrative and command functions compete with clinical care for space.
The Joint Commission recognizes these limitations, but it also expects hospitals to clearly identify how these gaps will be addressed. Plans must document which partners will be activated, how resources will be delivered, and how continuity of care will be maintained throughout the 96 hour period.
The Operational Role of FORTS Logistics
FORTS Logistics is the deployment and operations organization that activates hospital readiness plans when disruption occurs. While FORTS® designs and manufactures deployable medical infrastructure, FORTS Logistics is responsible for mobilizing those assets, delivering them to campus, and integrating them into active hospital operations.
When departments are taken offline due to disaster, construction, or infrastructure failure, FORTS Logistics deploys hospital grade solutions including mobile field hospitals, negative pressure isolation units, triage and exam spaces, administrative offices, and command and control centers. These assets are delivered and positioned rapidly to replace lost capacity and restore operational stability.
Logistics and Utility Support During the 96 Hour Window
Continuity of care depends on more than physical space. Hospitals must also sustain oxygen supply, electrical power, lighting, communications, and utility support. FORTS Logistics provides direct access to oxygen trailers, large kilowatt generators, LED lighting towers, and mission critical support equipment designed for rapid deployment.
During regional emergencies, these resources are often scarce. FORTS Logistics removes uncertainty by serving as a dedicated response partner with predefined mobilization processes and deployment pathways aligned to hospital emergency operations plans.
Strengthening Compliance Through Guaranteed Access
Through programs such as RapidReserve™, hospitals can secure priority access to deployable infrastructure and logistics support before emergencies occur. This ensures that resources are not only identified in planning documents but contractually secured and operationally defined.
This level of preparedness aligns directly with The Joint Commission’s emphasis on documented external agreements, defined activation thresholds, and scalable response options. Hospitals can clearly demonstrate how support will be mobilized within the 96 hour framework.
Supporting Exercises, Drills, and Real World Readiness
The Joint Commission expects emergency operations plans to be tested. FORTS Logistics supports hospitals during full scale exercises, evacuation drills, surge simulations, and construction continuity planning by deploying real assets in controlled environments.
This allows hospitals to validate assumptions, train staff on real equipment, and refine coordination between clinical teams, facilities, emergency management, and external partners.
Building Resilient Healthcare Operations
As natural disasters, infrastructure failures, cyber incidents, and construction related disruptions increase, the 96 hour planning window has become an operational reality. Hospitals need partners that deliver speed, reliability, and execution directly to their campus.
FORTS Logistics serves as the operational backbone of hospital emergency preparedness. By deploying medical infrastructure, utilities, and logistical support on demand, FORTS Logistics helps healthcare organizations meet and exceed The Joint Commission’s 96 hour framework while protecting patients, stabilizing operations, and supporting the communities they serve.
