How many extra deaths were there if Mark Bernard had not acted so decisively? A pure answer is difficult to give, but the fact is that the Hoornse employee of Omring is still seen as an internal hero. “Oh, you’re Mark,” I sometimes hear from colleagues. While I have never seen those people. That is special. “
His name will remain connected to the Coronaper period forever at Omring. And that while the ‘purchasing king’ normally deals with fire and building safety and a piece of crisis management. And yet on Monday, February 3, 2020, he joined the Omring care management.
‘I feared a shortage’
The images from Wuhan’s Chinese – where Corona first breaks out – disturb him. “Because I saw that that is an important province and that many protective equipment are made there. I feared a shortage. Of course, not knowing that Corona would also have such an impact on the Netherlands.”
The pandemic that holds our country in its grip for a few years is still far away. His care is therefore not taken very seriously and the suppliers indicate that they are not worried. The image and the state of mind changes radically as Corona also reaches the Netherlands.
Purchasing, management and distribution
Mark is immediately invited to the crisis meeting of Omring, partly because he has just written the crisis management plan. “And because I had already ringed the bell. I was made responsible for purchasing, the management and distribution of protective equipment. Our contracting parties were not in stock at that time, so I had to look for other parties like crazy.”
New function or not: there is a hurry. Lots of hurry. Because the 4,500 employees of Omring may not be without protective equipment in crisis time. “We first made a redistribution of our own stock, so that employees have never been without material. This made a buffer built up and we got through the first two weeks.”