Clinical Laboratories not Prepared for Chemical Terrorism

A survey of clinical laboratory professionals has found that less than half think their laboratory could effectively respond in a hazardous chemical emergency.

As a result of these findings, the American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP), which conducted the survey under a cooperative agreement with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Atlanta, GA, USA) will launch a series of online training courses to help clinical laboratories better prepare for a hazardous chemical event--anything from a train derailment to a chemical attack.

The survey results appear in an article titled "Chemical Terrorism: How Prepared are the Clinical Laboratories?” in the February 2007 issue of ASCP's Labmedicine magazine.

"ASCP has recognized the need to support the clinical laboratory in preparing for a hazardous chemical event,” wrote authors Donna Surges Tatum, Ph.D., C.A.E., from Meaningful Measurement, Inc., (Chicago, IL, USA) and William Becker, DO, MPH, from the Ohio Department of Health Laboratory (Columbus, OH, USA). "Online training courses are under development to fill the gaps and provide guidance where necessary.”

ASCP sent a link to the online survey to 13,396 laboratory professionals who work in such roles as medical laboratory director, assistant medical laboratory director, administrative laboratory director, section or department heads, manager, and assistant manager. The survey was open from August 17, 2005, through November 14, 2005. It included 100 questions in six sections covering hospital services and facilities, planning and communication, pathology, and clinical laboratory services and equipment, specimen collection and handling, chemical warfare agents, and training. Five hundred ninety-nine people responded, and of these, 582 submitted useable surveys. Responses came from 45 US states plus the District of Columbia and eight locations outside the United States.

"Results from this survey provided crucial information on the state of preparedness for a catastrophic chemical event,” the authors wrote. "Hospital laboratories have some serious concerns about their ability to respond. The laboratories may not have adequate resources and instruments. There is a need for written protocols for specimen collection and handling, and they do not have adequate information concerning chemical warfare agents.”

The survey found that 60% understood the laboratory's roles and responsibilities in an external hazardous chemical exposure emergency situation, but less than half indicated their laboratory could effectively respond. More than 75% of the respondents were interested in receiving training on this important topic, and nearly 90% said they would use an online training course.

ASCP will launch a four-part series of online training courses in March 2007. The series will address the following topics: chemical agents, communication and coordination, specimen collection and handling, and emergency planning.

Clinical laboratories, which are designed to support patient care, have different responsibilities than public health laboratories, which use epidemiology and forensics to determine the cause of a particular event. Clinical laboratories would be requested to assist the public health laboratories in the collection and shipping of samples to public health laboratories.

"In any type of hazardous emergency event, we need as much cooperation as possible,” said Dr. Becker. "All clinical laboratories should know how to contact their local or state public health laboratories 24/7.”




Related Links:
US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention