COVID Testing centre fully operational at DkIT site
THE TESTING CENTRE AT DKIT PLAYS A CRUCIAL ROLE IN THE BATTLE TO STOP THE SPREAD OF COVID-19 WRITES MARGARET RODDY
THE campus at DkIT is abnormally quiet. The landmark wind turbine towers over an almost empty car park as the team from the HSE’s COVID-19 testing centre don their PPE gear in preparation for a day’s work. Soldiers from the 27th Infantry Battalion direct those waiting in cars, who have been referred for testing by their GPs or Public Health Team, to the testing area. As the drivers approach the testing bays, they are told what is involved before driving into a bay where they are swabbed by staff in full PPE, without having to get out of their car. The whole process is over in a matter of minutes.
Three months ago and this would have seemed like a scene from a science fiction movie. Now it’s part of our new normal. It’s also a crucial part of a public health strategy being rolled out around the world to combat the spread of the novel coronavirus. Testing, tracking and isolation are central to the policy being implemented by governments worldwide.
Martina Ralph, Primary Care Network Manager, explains how they were tasked with setting up the COVID-19 testing centre in Dundalk. Initially, the centre was based at Muirhevnamor Primary Care Centre. Then as drive-thru centres were rolled out throughout the country,
Martina and her team had to find a location for the new testing centre which opened on March 27. ‘We had lots of offers from local business to use their premises but DkIT was the ideal location and everyone involved from the college have been extremely helpful,’ she says, with special thanks to Dr. Michael Mulvey, President and all his team.
Martina outlined how the HSE have used the Nursing Building for training and the drive-thru operates on the grounds of the PJ Carrolls site. The centre can operate seven days a week, depending on demand, with the testing carried out by HSE staff drawn from different services including Nursing, Dental, Orthodontics, Occupational Therapy, Speech and Language Therapy, Physiotherapy, Dietetics and Psychology. All the staff volunteered to join the testing team. Pat Bennett, Chief Officer, Midlands Louth Meath CHO visited the site recently and spoke with members of staff and congratulated them on the enormous planning and organisation that went in to the setting up of the sites and daily delivery of testing as part of Midlands Louth Meath COVID-19 response.
Hilda McConnon, Assistant Director of Nursing spoke about how she also volunteered her time to the swab team and became the Clinical lead. She stated that there were no issues with getting staff to volunteer. There are now ‘well over a hundred staff ’ who are trained in testing. She praises the staff who, she points out, ‘ have all changed their shifts to cope with the work and have worked seven days a week when needed.’ Tara Mundow and Joanne O’Kane are among those who volunteered, and are now leading the teams at DKIT. Both ladies came from a background of working in Orthodontic services in Louth. ‘We had two days training and started testing the following day,’ says Joanne. Tara admits that they were all concerned before they started, but their fears were quickly allayed once they did their training. ‘We were all nervous but that disappeared after the first day of swabbing.’ ‘We have the correct PPE, including masks, visors, gowns, gloves and goggles,’ adds Joanne, explaining that two people work together, checking to ensure that each has put on and taken off their PPE properly. Working in pairs at the hubs, Joanne explains how one member of the swab team will check the details of the person being tested, while the other does the swabbing. The whole process is over in about five minutes.
‘We have eight hubs and can test at least 48 people per hour’ says Martina. In addition to the drive-thru centre, there is also a mobile testing team which visits nursing homes and other residential care centres to carry out tests on staff and residents. ‘We are all very mindful of each other and keep an eye on each other as we don and doff our PPE,’ says Hilda McConnon, who leads the mobile team with Riona Heekin. ‘It’s all down to teamwork.’
There is, however, much more to the testing programme than the frontline staff who are swabbing. Another team led by Louise Coleman is busy working behind the scenes from the Community Care offices in front of the Louth County Hospital, on the Dublin Road.
They make the appointments for people who have been referred for testing by their GPs or from the Public Health Doctors. ‘ The referrals come to us via the Healthlink system and we use the Swift queue program to allocate appointments and create the daily calendars ,’ explains Louise. ‘ The admin team then ring the client, offer them an appointment at a time which suits them, the client then gets a text message to confirm this and they are advised to go to drive-thru centre at DkIT.’
Currently there is a quick turnaround time for appointments, which can be offered the same day if people call their GP in the morning. Louise stressed the importance of the admin team in the operation and success of the drive-thru, without this team of excellent staff who too have been redeployed from their previous roles, this centre would not be the success story it is. Known as the SwiftQ ladies, they pride themselves on their dedication to the drive-thru and have changed their work patterns to facilitate all these referrals. The staff outlined how each day they print off the calendar list from the SwiftQ system of all clients to be tested in DKIT and they also send the pre-populated request form with the label for the sampling bottle. This saves time for clients at the test centre and adds to the efficiency of the services.
At the end of the day the DKIT swab team pack all the swabs with the relevant paperwork into boxes. These swabs are then brought to a laboratory by the Civil Defence Volunteers. Due to the extra capacity now created in labs, results are no given within three days. People are advised to continue to self-isolate while waiting for their results and to follow any advice given to them by their GP. As COVID-19 looks set to be a major challenge for health services worldwide until such time as a vaccine or effective treatments are developed, testing will remain a key part of the government’s response. Martina and Louise makes special mention to Tom Horwell and his team from the National Ambulance Services (NAS) who were a great support to Primary Care in training and the setup of the Testing Centres ‘Primary Care and the NAS will continue to work together now and in the future to combat the daily challenges that Covid presents’. Martina pays tribute to all the organisations who have helped them, from the Army and Civil Defence, to the Irish Wheelchair Association, who provide transport for the mobile unit when needed, and Dundalk FC who gave them walkie talkies. They
are also grateful to the Feed The Heroes campaign who have provided them with meals, and to local businesses and individuals who have sent food and supplies. Last but not least Martina and Louise pay tribute to the caretaker Peader Keenan and the two cleaners Jane and Rosemary who are often the forgotten heroes in the battle to prevent the spread of the disease. ‘ Their commitment to their roles is phenomenal working from six am to deep clean the hubs in DKIT to prepare for the day of testing ahead. Their dedication to their role and their willingness to help in these crisis times is admirable.’
Louise has a final word for Argus readers: ‘COVID-19 is going to be around for a long time she fears. People cannot get complacent. We all need to ensure, we keep to the social distancing maintaining a space of 2 metres between you and other people, correct respiratory etiquette and continually washing our hands.’