PUBLIC HEALTH PREPAREDNESS AND RESPONSE
Mariana Islands and the Federated State
of Micronesia. mentorship program and providing virtual
biosafety trainings for all staff.
During her visits, Nixon built relationships
with each institution’s BSO and other
staff as she assessed the healthcare
facilities. She performed laboratory safety
assessments of capacity and workflow,
administered APHL’s risk assessment tool
and performed specific risk assessment
exercises based on her observations at the
sites. In conjunction with these activities,
Kaufman provided a virtual training on
biosafety culture and practices in the
workplace at each site. Sullivan joined
Nixon and assisted with the American
Samoa site assessment. What’s Next?
At the end of each site visit, Nixon
provided a summary report on
her actions, observations and
recommendations on how APHL and
CDC can continue supporting USAPI.
Recommendations included providing
in-person risk assessment trainings,
implementing a long-term onsite
PublicHealthLabs
@APHL
Upon the conclusion of these site
assessments, APHL extended invitations
to the BSOs in USAPI to participate in a
Biorisk Management Workshop in Tampa,
FL. Delivered in May 2019 and reaching
40 people, this workshop targeted both
public health and clinical laboratory staff
at all levels and specifically addressed
risk assessments. In addition to this
workshop, four out of the six USAPI BSOs
participated in the APHL Peer Network
Program, a peer-to-peer mentorship
exchange program for BSOs.
Special thanks to:
Amita A. Blanco, Lyndon B. Johnson Tropical
Medical Center, American Samoa
Margaret May Baekalia, National Food
Laboratory, Micronesia Medical Laboratory
Dr. Philip Dauterman, Commonwealth
Healthcare Center Laboratory, Commonwealth
of Northern Mariana Islands
Alan John A. Mallari, Guam Department of
Public Health, Public Health Laboratory
Anne Marie Santos, Guam Department of
Public Health, Public Health Laboratory
June Vaifanua-Leo, Lyndon B. Johnson Tropical
Medical Center, American Samoa
APHL shared its findings with staff at
CDC and will also share more formal
recommendations in the coming months.
APHL recognizes the importance of safety
and remains committed to providing
resources for quality laboratory systems
in all public health laboratories. n
APHL.org
Summer 2019 LAB MATTERS
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