Due Diligence: Problematic Pandemic

Sue had just finished watching one of the daily briefings. Sighing, she clicked the “X” to close the browser window. A million thoughts were going through her head. With the new orders to shut down all non-essential businesses to increase social distancing, what would Fancy Valley do? How would they survive? How would the business’ bills be paid, and what would she do herself for her own finances, or Justin, and Duey for that matter? What would happen to them? At that moment, Justin walked in and asked Sue if she saw the news. Nodding in silent acquiescence, Sue looked back to the desktop picture feeling completely forlorn.

“My volunteer ambulance corps is trying to onboard people quickly and volunteers are coming from all over the country to help out. We need to check exclusion lists quickly, but I’m not entirely sure it’s possible to do this. Typically, we just run the normal background investigation through Commercial Investigations LLC, and that includes sanctions. I don’t think we’ll have time to run that, also there’s the new policy of granting reciprocity across the United States. My chief doesn’t know how long this will be and we want to monitor the people. It’s been utter chaos.”

Sue thought for a moment. While Fancy Valley and the Four Seasons were inevitably going to hurt from this new situation, she had completely forgotten that Justin was an EMT. Now a new fear had struck her forcefully. He was a first responder and his risk was even greater than hers.

“Oh Justin! What are you going to do?” She exclaimed.

“What I have to do. I took an oath, and this is one of the reasons I wanted to be an EMT. I wanted to help people, at all costs. As worried as I am, I really want to help the chief navigate the hiring process, so that we’re ready.”

They were quiet for some time. After what felt like hours, Sue finally asked the question she had been holding back since she had watched the briefing. Cautiously, she said, “Justin, what will Fancy Valley do? I mean, what is the plan?”

He turned to stare at her; he knew the answer, even if he hadn’t had a chance to discuss it with Duey. They would have to shut down to comply with the social distancing guidelines. While typically their services were contracted and only single employees, he wasn’t sure how to navigate the current situation. Deciding that he wouldn’t give up hope that they could come to a gratifying conclusion, he explained that they would shut down for a week, while they looked into options. He was going to call the Department of State to see if they had guidance on their business, and if it would be possible for them to continue to operate as long as they didn’t have contact with their clients.

Sue agreed it was best. She began to pack up her things, while Justin watched. As she was picking up her last knick-knack on her desk to bring home, unsure if it was the last time she would see her lovely little home away from home, she paused. A thought had occurred to her.

“Justin! Call Commercial Investigations LLC, I saw something about continuous monitoring on their website. Maybe they can help the Ambulance Corps!”

“You think they could? Are they still going to be able to operate?”

“Only one way to find out!”

Justin called CI, and spoke with one of the Lead Investigators, who explained, ‘Yes, they were working remotely, and some of the business had been a little interrupted with closures, but overall they were still fully operational.’

“Is there an option for continuous monitoring of medical sanctions?” Justin asked.

“Of course! We have a product called Vigilant MEDS™. Every month you would upload your list of employees or vendors and it’s run through our sanctions database providing a list of potential matches. Once we receive the potential matches, we go through each one and either rule them out based on identifiers, or positively identify them. Then you will get a report with the information. Just have your chief contact us and we can get them set up!” It was a perfect solution. While things were uncertain for Fancy Valley and the Four Seasons, Justin was ready to battle the crisis at hand.

How will Fancy Valley and the Four Seasons Survive?

What happened with Duey and Prue, did she say yes?

Stay tuned to find out!