public health preparedness and response
APHL Biosafety Peer Network
Links Idaho to New York
by Michael Stevenson, PhD, deputy lab director, Idaho Bureau of Laboratories
In late January 2017, Health and Safety Specialist
Cassie Dayan and I flew from Boise, Idaho to New
York City to visit Anna Liddicoat—a new face
in a new locale. APHL’s Biosafety Peer Network
had paired two PHLs working in very different
settings: Idaho Bureau of Laboratories (IBL), the
only public health laboratory in Idaho, staffed by
approximately 40 people with a jurisdiction of
1.7 million people over 83,000 square miles, and
New York City Public Health Laboratory (NYC
PHL), one of four PHLs serving New York state,
with a facility of 150 staff and a jurisdiction of 8.5
million people over 300 square miles.
A
t IBL, I oversee our lab safety program. Cassie was hired at IBL about
18 months ago with funds from the Epidemiology and Laboratory
Capacity Ebola Supplemental grant, and she works part-time to help
with lab safety outreach to our 49 sentinel labs (36 with comprehensive
microbiology units) in the state. Hired by NYC PHL a year ago under the same
grant, Anna’s role as the Biosafety Officer (BSO) is to ensure biosafety practices
are in place at their facility and to perform sentinel lab outreach for safety
and biothreat awareness to NYC’s 78 sentinel labs (44 with comprehensive
microbiology units).
There were many highlights of our visit with Anna. We immediately noticed
the security presence in their PHL building of several floors, with a 24/7 guard
stationed at the main entrance and on the floor where the biosafety level 3
(BSL3) lab is located. Our in-depth tour of the facility and its testing programs,
including Environmental Sciences, Microbiology and Virology, allowed us to
observe safety practices and laboratory signage. We donned and doffed the
required personal protection equipment when we visited the BSL3 lab where
biothreat, TB and BioWatch testing occurred, and Anna explained how a risk
assessment was performed for every testing procedure. Our conversation with
the Quality Management (QM) Team was enlightening as we compared QM
practices at facilities of 40 versus 150 staff. Finally, we shadowed Anna as she
and a coworker visited Bellevue Hospital for a “meet and greet” sentinel lab
outreach effort and a tour of its lab facilities.
Michael and Cassie on the 86 th floor of the Empire State Building
Cassie and I returned to Boise with NYC PHL resources to consider
incorporating into our processes, and a plan to make a sentinel lab outreach
binder similar to what Anna gave to Bellevue Hospital. In July, Anna will visit
IBL, and we look forward to sharing our safety practices and resources with
her. Our thanks go to APHL for letting us participate in this valuable network.
The APHL Biosafety Peer Network partners state, local and territorial PHLs
to facilitate mentoring and information sharing among biosafety officials.
28
LAB MATTERS Spring 2017
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