FAST, as featured in the South Delta Leader, Jan 11, 2008

Custom help for clients
By Philip Raphael - South Delta Leader - January 11, 2008 

Find this article at:
http://www.bclocalnews.com/richmond_southdelta/southdeltaleader/business/Custom_help_for_clients.html

Don’t get left in the dark when disaster strikes.

That’s the message from a Delta-based safety consultant and producer of emergency preparedness kits.

“Imagine that you have a serious situation and you open your emergency kit and found the flashlight inside wouldn’t work because the batteries inside were substandard,” says Carmen Funk, general manager of FAST (First Aid & Survival Technologies). “That wouldn’t be good.”

Funk says that in the aftermath of a series of world events such as the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the U.S. and deadly 2004 tsunami in the Indian Ocean, the general public is more aware and proactive about being prepared for disasters that could affect them directly. But now they need to ensure they are getting the right goods—top quality supplies, materials, and equipment—to help them out when a flood, earthquake or other emergency arises.

That’s how FAST markets the emergency kit side of the business which began with an idea in 1985 when a pair of first aid instructors had their corporate clients repeatedly ask them where to get good quality, first aid kits.

Three years later, one of the founders—Jan Turnbull—partnered with FAST’s current president Dee Miller to take the company further, first by assembling emergency kits on Turnbull’s ping pong table in her basement.

In 1990, Miller assumed ownership of the business and today FAST is a leading supplier of emergency kits, equipment, clothing and has branched out into safety consulting.

The firm has an impressive list of corporate clients that includes the Delta School District, BC Hydro, ICBC, the provincial government and a host of private industries such as earth moving giant Finning which includes a FAST first aid kit with every piece of heavy equipment it sells.

The draw?

Funk says it’s FAST’s commitment to providing top quality by sourcing reliable supplies—everything from bandages and light sticks to flashlights and safety gloves—that go into their emergency kits.

“We also do custom orders, so our clients get exactly what they want,” she says, adding FAST’s employees produce the actual emergency kit bags in-house, and even bake the high calorie food rations the kits contain in a special kitchen.

“That way we can ensure quality control over everything that goes into the kits,” Funk says.

It was that assurance that prompted a Canadian aid agency to enlist FAST’s services directly following the 2004 tsunami.

Funk said the contract—which at the time prohibited publicity of the deal—was to provide 100,000 emergency kits for those left homeless by the devastating waves.

“We received the phone call on Dec. 31 and we managed to deliver what amounted to seven Boeing 747 plane loads of kits by the third week of February,” Funk says. “We were working 14-hour days for quite while.”

Most other orders are much smaller as FAST focuses on filling the particular needs of clients rather that mass producing generic kits and clothing.

“For example, we had an order from YVR (Vancouver International Airport Authority) for one reflective vest in size 12XL,” Funk says. “That was one pretty big guy, but it was one order. Most (clothing) orders are about a dozen or so pieces at a time, that’s why that part of the business will never be outsourced overseas.”

Other unique items FAST produces include disposable sleeping bags for B.C.’s ministry of forests.

“They are made from landscaping fabric so they can be left behind and they literally just melt into the ground.”

FAST is also set up to serve walk-in clients at its River Road office.

“We can provide an emergency kit for everyone, whatever their needs,” Funk says. “Things have come a long way from just hanging a white metal first aid box on the wall, leaving it there and hoping you never have to use it.”